PhotographsPhotographsClick a picture to see the full size photograph...
|
|
|
|
|
|
More photographs on the way - please visit again soon!
Understanding natural light and its changes through the day, seasons and the effect of weather conditions, and how this knowledge can aid the landscape photographer’s art/technique.
Topics covered
Light changes through the course of a day
Effects of direction of light
Weather/seasons
Effects of natural light
Colour temperature
Introduction
When travelling through or stopping to gaze awhile the light on the landscape before us is not necessarily the main thing that influences our reaction to the scene before us.
To move through Glen Coe even on the dullest days is to experience true drama. The glowering peaks, the sheer size, the smell of the heather, the temperature, the atmosphere born of our knowledge of it’s tragic history all contribute to how we see and experience this place.
A photograph doesn’t work in the same way, it has to impart it’s message through a two dimensional medium. An image of the glen taken on an overcast grey day will look flat and grey. It will have no depth. But if taken on a day of light and shadow it becomes three dimensional and may convey a little of the sense of drama the photographer felt while standing there.
The following image would be flat and featureless without the shaft of light highlighting the focal point.
[ IMAGE Missing ]
Light gives an image life. It can make the difference between a straight record shot or a truly pleasing image.
Light through the course of the day
Quality of light is the most important factor and affects all images, and the greatest factor affecting quality of daylight is time of day. As the sun moves across the sky the colour and intensity of light undergoes an infinite number of subtle changes.
Just before sunrise, predawn, the light is reflected from the sky and because the air is still "clean" is very soft, with weak shadows, and a blue grey hue.
As soon as the sun rises above the horizon the light immediately warms up and takes on a golden yet still grey slightly unearthly hue.
However, not the bright orange glow of sunset as the atmosphere is still clean. The pollution that thickens the atmosphere as the day progresses hasn’t started to gather yet. The light is therefore not diffused and is still clear cold colours
As the sun continues to rise the low angle of the sun creates long thin blue tinged shadows, revealing texture and form.
As it climbs higher towards midday the light becomes more intense and the shadows grow shorter and denser.
By midday when the sun is overhead the light is very bland. The landscape looks flat and featureless with no shadow or texture.
From mid afternoon as the sun descends towards the horizon the light becomes warmer and the shadows longer giving texture and depth to an image.
Just before sunset the light turns golden, and diffused by the thicker atmosphere, produces richer colours than at dawn.
Finally, twilight transforms the sky yet again with shades of blue and purple as day fades to night.
Effects of direction of sunlight
The way light strikes the subject is also important, as it will determine the presence or lack of shadows.
Frontal lighting with the sun behind the photographer lights the subject evenly. Contrast is manageable and exposure simple to determine. However, shadows fall away from the camera and out of view so results can look flat.
Side lighting throws shadows across the scene, highlighting texture and form, and giving a sense of depth. Without side lighting the form of the sand dunes would not have been so visible and striking in Edward Weston's famous image of sand dunes.
Backlighting can create interesting results but needs careful exposure. Anything between the photographer and the sun will record as a silhouette. This may be the desired effect, as in the final shot in my folio, but if not then exposure should be calculated from the main subject in the foreground. The background will then burn out creating a high key effect.
Seasons/Weather
The above to a certain extent has all assumed good weather, and makes no allowance for seasonal changes. Variations in weather do have a profound effect on the quality of light. Direct sunlight is harsh and intense and will produce contrasty images with dense shadows. This can produce vibrant, striking images, but a cloudy sky will diffuse the light and soften shadows, adding atmosphere and allowing the capture of greater detail in a photograph.
An overcast sky diffuses and softens the light so much that there are no shadows at all, giving flat featureless and colourless photographs.
However, colour saturation is greater because of this diffusion, so if working in colour it is a good time to take detail shots.
Bad weather is also worth sitting out. The occasional shaft of sunlight will add drama, or you may get to see a cold front clearing as in this shot taken at dusk from the cliffs at Whitby.
[ IMAGE missing ]
Plus, of course, sometimes there are rainbows
It should also be remembered that the time of year will also affect natural light, as the angle of the sun affects the intensity of its light. During autumn and winter the sun stays low to the horizon so its light hits the Earth at an acute angle giving long raking shadows and a softer light even in the late morning and early afternoon. During mid summer the sun reaches much higher in the sky and between around 10.00am and 4.00pm gives almost no shadow or very short dense ones that produce black holes in a photograph.
| Effects of Natural Light | |||
Strong sunlight
|
Strongly diffused sunlight
|
||
Moderately diffused sunlight
|
Fog and mist
|
||
Colour Temperature
Variations in the colour of light are referred to as colour temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin. Perhaps oddly, warm light has a cooler colour temperature than cool light.
Our eyes adapt to these changes automatically, but film is not able to do this and is made to give natural results in light with a specific colour temperature. Normal daylight balanced film is balanced for light with a colour temperature of 5500K, usually found around midday in sunny weather. At sunset this temperature can drop to 3000K, so pictures will look much warmer than the original scene as analysed by our eyes. Conversely in intense sunlight colour temperature can reach 10 000K giving pictures a definite blue cast.
Such casts can enhance pictures e.g. warming up sunsets, however, if colour accuracy is important then filters will neutralise these casts, e.g. early morning colour temperature is around 3500K (warm light) and a blue 80C would bring out a truer rendition of the cold blue of morning light.
Some links to Photography sites I've found interesting or useful.
AmPhot UK - An information site for Amateur Photographers in the UK
Email
me: website @ weben.co.uk
Back to Home Page