Light Exercises

[ClaudioG]

Ok..so im going back to basics..and trying to really SEE, and not just look. This is a roofs shadow hitting my pavement



I'd like to get your opinion on the image and its composition, but more importantly, do you feel this is a "LIGHT" exercise or a "shadow" exercise, and if Shadow..maybe if you could give an idea of what i should look for?

[Digital]

IMHO one can not study the effects of light without studying in most cases, the effects of shadow(s), which is by definition the absence of light.
This photo is a good example of a pattern set by the shadows, and the texture suggested by the areas that are lit.
To me the composition is fine.
When I think of shadows I think of patterns in photos such as yours.
In my own house I have noticed that light coming from a window that has blinds throws a pattern of shadows on the wall or door.
In short, shadows are a nice thing to utilize in nature, and with control in portraiture.

Bruce

[ClaudioG]

Thanks Bruce. I was thinking sort of on same lines.... really am sticking to basics with this image as i feel I've missed this part of photography. Although I've only really started rec3ntly. I'm trying to do 4 things aside from light been a subject. Firstly simplify,, secondly get balance, 3rd, my subject should be clear, and lastly have a point of view. I guess.. I'm missing some of that in rhismimage..but, not all. I feel i have some direction now. Before I'd just click away.

[Steve S]

the effects of shadow(s), which is by definition the absence of light.

Absence of light is total darkness...............pure black.................without light , you don't have shadows. Judge your light , by the shadows. Shadows tell you direction of the light. They also tell you the intensity of the light. (how hard or soft the shadow detail is.)

If you want to see the light, look in the dark.

[Digital]

Absence of light is total darkness...............pure black.................without light , you don't have shadows. Judge your light , by the shadows. Shadows tell you direction of the light. They also tell you the intensity of the light. (how hard or soft the shadow detail is.)

If you want to see the light, look in the dark.

Steve, with all due respect, what color (or lack of color) is a shadow?

Bruce

[Steve S]

Steve, with all due respect, what color (or lack of color) is a shadow?

Bruce

Go into your room at midnight, with a flashlight. Close all the doors and windows. Now turn off the light and tell me how many shadows you see.

[Digital]

Go into your room at midnight, with a flashlight. Close all the doors and windows. Now turn off the light and tell me how many shadows you see.

Reference: Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition)
"shadow (noun) 1: partial darkness or obscurity within a a part of space from which rays from a source of light are cut off by an interposed opaque body."

Steve , by absence of light I do not mean that there is absolutely no light; you have to have light to make a shadow; however a shadow is an area that no light has penetrated (absence of light). Hence it is black in that specific spot.
I may have not made myself clear. If that is the case I apologize to Claudio, and you.
Case closed.

Bruce

[Steve S]

Reference: Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition)
"shadow (noun) 1: partial darkness or obscurity within a a part of space from which rays from a source of light are cut off by an interposed opaque body."

Steve , by absence of light I do not mean that there is absolutely no light; you have to have light to make a shadow; however a shadow is an area that no light has penetrated (absence of light). Hence it is black in that specific spot.
I may have not made myself clear. If that is the case I apologize to Claudio, and you.
Case closed.

Bruce

The light in a shadow , is only reduced, not absent. If absent, you wouldn't be able to see anything in the shadow.............make sense.

[Digital]

The light in a shadow , is only reduced, not absent. If absent, you wouldn't be able to see anything in the shadow.............make sense.

Steve,
I guess one can say that the type of shadow depends on the opaqueness of the object that the light source is hitting. In other words the more opaque the object the more distinct is the shadow; conversely the less opaque of the object the less distinct the shadow. Claudio's pic is a good example of this.

Bruce

[Steve S]

Steve,
I guess one can say that the type of shadow depends on the opaqueness of the object that the light source is hitting. In other words the more opaque the object the more distinct is the shadow; conversely the less opaque of the object the less distinct the shadow. Claudio's pic is a good example of this.

Bruce

Light can bend around an object...............in doing so, some of the light is lost or deflected, creating a shadow. The softer the light, the easier it can bend around an object. Soft light leaves soft shadows, because more light bends around the object.

If the light source is larger, the light is softer..............if the light source is closer, the light is softer. Don't believe me........hold your hand close to a light , then move the light further and further away and the shadow will get darker and darker.(because the light is getting harder and harder )

[ClaudioG]

Can we just say that shadow is the lack of light,,(at Varying degrees) depending on circumstances and situation.?

More importantly, i now see that my image is about the shadow. So.. I'd .say i wasn't successful this time. As I'm trying to make my image about light. But, this conversation has let me understand more clearly how to separate the lines between making an image about light and not about shadow.

Like you both say, you can't have light without shadow, but you can make n image about light even with shadow.


Thanks again

[Shadowman]

Don't forget cast shadows, which is what Claudio is displaying. You still have the local color of the object and the color of the object casting the shadow.