All About The Light
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Feeling a Shift in Focus.
I have been photographing for a few years now (more than 10) and I am feeling a shift in my photography - I love how I find myself in one of two states - either in flow and feeling excited and inspired by my photography efforts, or in some state of disquiet, dissatisfaction or generally uninspired. I seem to gravitate to these two states which seems very odd, but my current reality.
I will trundle along in a state of disquiet or lacking inspiration when suddenly it is like a light bulb turning on and I feel myself slip into flow (I wrote about flow here). What I don’t always recognize is that there is a process that I go through to enter flow and part of that is getting focused on the present moment and letting all expectations and criticisms fade into the background. I can’t force this to happen, but when I let go and slide into it - magic!
Early morning light catching this spur fowl. (EXIF data f5.6, 1/250s, 600mm, ISO600, -1.0EV)
Lately I’ve been finding myself slipping into flow a bit more readily and I think part of that is related to me letting go of expectations and labels. I used to consider myself a wildlife and bird photographer - while I enjoy photographing these subjects, they are not the only subjects of my images. When I follow what catches my eye or sparks my curiosity, then I find myself excited and effortlessly slipping into flow. One thing that I’ve noticed recently is that I’m focusing a lot more on light than on subject matter - interesting and exciting.
First Rule of Photography
During a recent trip I had a funny thing happen to me. I was in Zambia and on a canoe adventure - gliding along between pods of hippos and crocodiles (it really was safe and fun - or so my guide assured me). My expert guide was maneuvering the canoe into position for me to shoot images of the hippos spouting water with the sun reflected behind the spray - I was underexposing the images significantly and getting some very moody and dramatic shots.
Hippos spouting water in the early afternoon. (EXIF data f11, 1/250s, 400mm, ISO400, -2.3EV)
Out of nowhere I heard a voice proclaim that every photographer knows that the first rule of photography is to shoot with the light behind you. Now I will agree that this is true to a certain extent - shooting with the light source behind the photographer makes for easier exposure and even lighting on the subject, but easier is not always what draws me to a scene. Lately it is the light and the drama - the way the light plays over the subject and what it does to the scene.
Playing With Light
I’m loving backlight (shooting into the light with it behind my subject rather than me) which often creates silhouettes or rim light. During our safari adventure we had ample opportunity to play with different light conditions such as:
rim light - egrets coming through the winter thorn forest in the late afternoon sun in Kutali,
zebras in the late afternoon sun in Mwamba (lots of examples in this gallery)
A playful scene enhanced by the out of frame horse sculpture that is casting a shadow in front of the young girl statue and creating the impression that she is riding in a chariot. (EXIF data f8, 300mm, 1/250s, ISO800)
The light shadows that play on a subject often catches my eye and I especially enjoy when something special occurs like when the shadow from a nearby horse sculpture interacted with the girl and umbrella caught in a windstorm sculpture. These serendipitous moments make photography even more meaningful for me - being able to tell stories and find deeper meanings in what I come across.
Really Seeing
I have said in the past that I’ve been focusing on being present and in the moment. Mindful of what is going on around me, but not being distracted by a lot of the input (think of not falling into the “squirrel” pattern of thought). I have found that this takes practice - it is not an innate or automatic part of how I see what I want to photograph. It is a bit like some of those games that were popular decades ago (Finding Waldo) - where I need to almost unfocus my eyes and just rest in the present moment to let what catches my eye come to me.
Once I have found that “something” I then try to understand what caught my attention and why - what is it about this scene or subject that captured my eye. This helps me to understand what I need to do in order to capture the moment most effectively - some might say how to find the best expression of the scene/subject. Do I need to reframe in order to remove distractions - would a different angle or perspective enhance what I’m seeing and make it clearer what has captured my eye? Are my settings going to capture the scene the way I want and enable me to apply editing to really emphasize the “something” that caught my eye.
Then I just start to play and follow the energy flow - this is when it becomes especially fun - when the inspiration and creativity kicks into high gear.
Reflections and rich colours caught my eye and I wanted to capture the peacefulness of the morning. (EXIF data f4, 400mm, 1/125s, ISO1000)
While this may sound easy to achieve, believe me it is not (at least not for me). I have found that the technical part of photography can be learned through courses, workshops and practice, but the creative part takes time. It takes slowing down, really being present and seeing as well as knowing what I’m trying to capture/accomplish.
Not Taking Things Too Seriously
Early morning light in the glacial lagoon in Iceland. A moment that could have passed unnoticed as we were originally focused on Diamond Beach (looking the opposite direction). (EXIF data f8, 1/100s, 100mm, ISO400)
One thing that I’ve found to be important in this process is to let go of expectations and let things unfold as they are meant to. I can get inside my head and then the stories start which crowds out my ability to really see what is going on around me. From there I start to take things too seriously which has a negative impact on my ability to capture what is filled with awe and wonder around me.
Let’s be honest - this is supposed to be fun! It is too easy for me to lose sight of this and squash the joy with heavy thoughts of not good enough or failure. Focusing on the light and being present is a great way to counteract these thoughts - I need to do this more on a day to day basis and not just when I have my camera in my hand.
Where I’m Heading
I have been finding inspiration in focusing my attention on following the energy flow - being mindful of what captures my attention and really pursuing it with lightness and fun. Maybe I need to apply this to my everyday life more and really lean into finding joy and lightness. Hmmmmm - photography has been even more meaningful in my retirement than I expected.
Do you ever get stuck in your head - unable to let go of expectations and disappointment when reality does not match the story in your mind? How do you let go of being stuck? I’d love to hear about it in the comments or drop me a note directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.
Splashes of colour in the early morning light of the perennial garden at Kingsbrae. (EXIF data f18, 200mm, 1s, ISO64, 3stop ND filter)
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
