7. December 2001
Great Light
- Same subject, Two images

When you are out making photographs either in the city or out in the country, light or the "quality" of the light is very important.
We all know that photography requires light - it's simply light that we capture with our cameras.
But in this article I will try to visualize just how important the quality of the light is, and how different the very same subjects can come out in different lighting situations.

The "Test"
What I did was, I took some photographs on a day with a bright, but low sun (morning and afternoon). I then returned to the same places on a day with absolutely no sun - well of course there where light but it was very dull.
The images in the low sun was taken with a Rolleiflex 2.8GX on Fuji Velvia, which is a very saturated film. The images in the dull light on the other hand was taken with a Canon G1 digital camera. These two cameras produces very different images, I know, but that is not so important in this little "test".

Let's have a look at the first subject - a door:


The image to the right was taken in the low sun, and it appeals a lot more to me, than the photo on the left. I sense an atmosphere that is not present on the photo to the left. Also the low light gives a more three-dimensional look to the picture.

Let's have a look at another example:


OK, the framing is not identical, but still the light on the image to the right is warmer, which creates a special atmosphere not there on the picture to the left. Again the picture becomes more three-dimensional in the low light.

Here is an example of a picture that is almost not there when the light is gone.
What do I mean? Have a look:


What's happening here?
Well, the low sunbeams was reflected on windows in a building just opposite this one and created this beautiful "light wall painting".
This picture is different from the others, because it was taken on the shadow-side of the building. No direct sun hits the wall, so there isn't really an enhancement of the apparent depth of the subject, but clearly here the sun creates the picture for us.


Links
Read more about understanding light and color both in the photographic context and as a physical phenomenon.
• Understanding Light and Color - lightforum.com
• Light - www.libarts.ucok.edu/journalism/