Changing Light

Autumn sunlight allows the photographer to create truly unique images. In the northeastern United States, the golden hue the sun provides when it is low in the sky provides an incomparable warmth for pictures. This time of year is my favorite for capturing portraits.

Observe the effects of how this light highlights hair and boosts the glow of complexions. Mind how the light boosts colors and molds form.

Use the colors from nature to add interest to your backgrounds. Use a wide-lens aperture to take advantage of light and blur the background for softness and interest.

Shadows in fabrics and around facial features makes it seem as if you can reach out and touch the subject.

All seasons we must use directional light for the greatest effect. Light should be guided by a tree line, porch or other object. Light coming from all directions is less appealing, making the subject flatter and duller.

Light flowing through the garden and other natural spaces has the same affect on natural subjects as it does on humans. Now is a good time to take "portraits" of the season last flowers, leaves that are clinging dearly to trees, and other elements of the landscape.

Still Life Part Deux

Back on February 19th, I posted about creating still lifes. Today I want to walk you through one of my still life sessions. This session took about 30 minutes and included 45 photographs. There are three photos that I will likely print. This was a good session. I often only end up with one photo and the sessions often take longer than this did. I am going to show you some selected images from the session. I was inspired by some standard supermarket tulips and the early spring light that shines through my dining room window. My house is filled with large windows, so I am often stuck by light at a particular time of day while I'm sipping tea or playing dolls with my daughter. I think, "Hmmm, I must capture this light in some way..." And off I go with an idea.

I started with the idea that I wanted to incorporate an old tulip photo with a live tulip arrangement, based on my "Art in Bloom" blog posting two days ago. As I shoot, the idea changes. I get new inspiration from what I'm doing and get into a bit of a groove. The arrangements I did with the framed image included a vase of flowers and sometimes two. I've posted my favorite from a series of about ten where I moved the vases around to all different positions to find the spot where I liked it best.

Then the idea morphed. I used a bowl to prop my photo. this bowl eventually came out from behind the photo and became an element in the picture.

I soon decided that I wanted the emphasis to be on the simple flower vase, the white wall, and the lighted window. I added some blue cloth to change the color palette so that it would complement the flowers and brighten the picture. I keep about ten different fabrics on hand to use as backgrounds, swags, and cloths just for this purpose.

I then chose to emphasize the vertical aspect of the flowers and window by turning the camera. These are the final products.

Garden Textures

Yesterday I discussed color in the garden. Today I would like to talk about texture.

When I started to write about this topic, I realized that perhaps I needed to define "texture" to best make my point. The best definition I found was on Web Dictionary: Texture - "the characteristic appearance of a surface having a tactile quality."

Texture on a plant is about the surface of the leaves and flowers. Are they smooth? Are they rough? But the garden as a whole has its own tactile quality. The garden's texture is about leaf shape and size, varying heights of plants AND the actual physical structure of the leaf. All combine together to give the garden its characteristic appearance. The garden's "tactile quality" can be viewed when standing outside viewing the scene in person, but it is even more apparent in a picture. The pictures I've included here are good examples of this. (These pictures, as yesterday's, were taken at Uncanoonuc Mt. Perennials.) The light in the garden weaves through the plants, playing off the different forms and making the textures come alive. In a 2-dimensional photo, the shaded areas give the forms strong shape and highlight their variety. Rocks, petals, grasses, thorny spikes - all add variability in the garden's texture to create interest. the way light plays off of them is of particular interest.

Even a garden with mainly one color can be attractive if you create it with texture in mind. In the green garden in the middle (above) notice how the light weaves in and out of the leaves to create strong shadows. When you add a little color to a very textured scene, the interest value is peeked. Here a little blue increases the appeal of the texture with just a dash of color.