Continuing my exploration into the Quality of Light and how its effects can make or break a photo, here are a few more to illustrate the power of light.
Dramatic Clouds make the helicopter look tiny
Light on a trail always makes the road ahead look interesting
Sometimes you have to shelter from the light
Lighthouse Cafe in the early evening light
The day begins to fade and leave behind interesting lighting
Light makes photographs more interesting and over this weekend, as part of the Photo101 assignments, we’ve been asked to look at the quality of light. How light varies throughout the day.
Depending on what time of day you take your picture will have an impact on the final result.
Dawn — before sunrise — can cast a cool blue light, with no shadows.
Later in the morning, the light tends to be neutral — and to some, ideal.
At midday, the sun reaches its highest point, resulting in dark shadows.
Later in the day, in the “golden hour” before sunset, daylight grows softer and redder, creating a magical atmosphere.
Factors can change these conditions, including weather, location, and the time of year.
Here is a selection of photos I have taken at various times of the day to illustrate what light can do to make even the simplest of photos something more interesting.
I like how the light dapples across the wood
Relaxing under a palm tree and enjoying the shadows
I like how the light illuminates the tennis balls
Key West lobster buoys hang from the small 1950s wood frame building and dance in the afternoon light
This fan art deco style palm looks great in the midday sun
If you would like to see more photos experimenting with light, please check out my post – Quality of Light – Part II
Some photos are significant not because of what’s depicted, but because of the mood they create. They communicate an idea that transcends the actual subject of the image.
Here’s a photo that conveys a sense of mystery. Can you tell what it is?
Whilst wandering around the Everglades I suddenly felt as if I was being watched!
In case you need a clue – it’s an Alligator lurking just below the water – it was extremely large and very close. It’s very well camouflaged against the stones and quiet. He had swam up close without me even realizing.
Photography means “drawing with light,” and when you snap a picture with your camera, you use and record light to create an image.
A front-lit subject faces the light source and is even-lit and flat, primarily without shadows. Front light is the most straightforward to work with, but isn’t as dramatic.
Side light is fun to experiment with, especially for portraiture, fine art, and architecture.
When you light a subject from the side, the mix of light and shadow shows more depth and reveals textures, patterns, and complexities (even flaws) in the shot. It can create unexpected results, and be more dramatic.
Sun Halo
I was extremely lucky to capture this photo of our sun. The phenomenon is called a Sun Halo or 22° Halo.
This was an amazing moment when I looked up at the sky and managed to frame the sun halo perfectly. I still think it’s funny that it involves ice crystals especially when you’re basking in the 80/90F degree heat.
Among the most well known halos is the 22° halo, often just called “halo”, which appears as a large ring around the Sun or Moon with a radius of about 22° (roughly the width of an outstretched hand at arm’s length).
The ice crystals that cause the 22° halo are oriented semi-randomly in the atmosphere, in contrast to the horizontal orientation required for some other halos such as sun dogs and light pillars. As a result of the optical properties of the ice crystals involved, no light is reflected towards the inside of the ring, leaving the sky noticeably darker than the sky around it, and giving it the impression of a “hole in the sky”. The 22° halo is not to be confused with the corona, which is a different optical phenomenon caused by water droplets rather than ice crystals, and which has the appearance of a multicolored disk rather than a ring.
A good photographer is a constant observer: always watching and studying a scene, from patterns in city traffic to movements in nature. A photographer notices big, sweeping changes — like the sky at dusk — but also the tiniest details.
Exploring the outdoors, with camera in hand, is an opportunity to look for natural lines that lead our eyes to different parts of a frame. Envision the bend of a stream, or the curve of a petal: how can you use these lines in your composition? If you see strong vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines, can you play with the orientation to create a more dynamic composition?
The Natural World
Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree has interesting Tree bark – Miami Botanical GardensA Lizard examining a burnt tree – Bill Baggs Cape Florida State ParkDid you spot the cheeky frog? He looks so comfortable in his own private oasis
Today, let’s go big. Whether inside or outside, photograph something of massive size. But feel free to interpret big in your own way, and get creative with your shot. Capture all or just part of the subject. Place it in the foreground so it takes up the entire frame. Or shoot it from afar so it appears smaller — yet still prominent.
Well my point of interest to demonstrate BIG is one of the super large cruise ships that sail by every day from the Port of Miami. For something so large they are extremely quiet cutting through the calm waters as if it was butter.
You can be relaxing on the beach or near the bay and suddenly look up and be taken by complete surprise at this massive ship sailing by.
Here are a few shots of these amazing floating hotels.
From this perspective you can not really tell how large the ship isGoing out to seaBon Voyage!
Here are a few more images of cruise ships docked in Key West, FL. In fact these are the ships that will soon be making their way back to Miami.
Large Cruise Ship waiting to pick up its passengers at Key West, FLThey are so super big – how do they manage to float?
In this age of social media, we hear the word connect more often, don’t we? Connect with us on Facebook! Connect with me on LinkedIn! Given what today’s technologies can do, it feels like the world is getting smaller, and we’re more connected than ever before.
There are many ways to interpret this theme: from a gadget to a handshake, from a bridge to a gathering among friends. What’s yours?
Today I’m connecting with nature – here are a few subjects who were not too shy to connect with me.
A cheeky racoon raids the local picnic area to see what delicious leftovers he can scoop up.An Iguana just out for a strollAlligator – such a sly smile and what’s going on in that brain. Lets not stick around too long to find out!
So I’ve made it to the end of the first week of the Photo101 assignments and have covered topics ranging from Home, Wider Views, Water, Bliss and Solitude.
Now it’s a free for all weekend where we can revisit some of these topics and put into practice what we have learned. I’m using today to showcase some of the other photos that fit into the Home, Wider View and Water category.
Home
Palm Tree lined street
A bench with a view
The local park
Dinner Alfresco
Smores
Bottoms Up
Crocodile
Mosquito Sticks
Shells
Wider Views
Beautiful Tree of Flowers
Interesting Shapes formed by nature
A Magnificent View
Lighthouse Sunset
Water
Airboat – Everglades
Manatee Zone
Everglades National Park
A Serene Beach Scene
Stiltsville
Clear Waters
Come back tomorrow to see my gallery of pictures depicting shots of Bliss and Solitude from the Photo101 assignments.
If you enjoyed this article, why not check out the original assignment posts related to each of the above categories.
Today’s assignment for photo101 is to depict Solitude.
My photo shows a solitary tree reaching up through the undergrowth.
A Lone Tree – Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
Even though there is a lot of nature in this photo, the fact it is the only tree of its kind hopefully depicts the feeling of being in a solitary state.
