Photography: Sculpting with Light

School is always "in session" for photographers.

Whether you consider yourself a beginner, a serious hobbyist or a professional, photographers are continuously learning. There is new technology, equipment and software being developed and sold on the market almost every week. So, as soon as you become an expert in one area, something new and better pops up and you start all over.

When I talk about or teach photography, I typically stay away from getting bogged down in all the latest and greatest gizmos, gadgets and jargon. I like to keep things simple, basic and timeless.

Today, I am going to talk about what I believe is one of the most important subjects in photography, light. If you do not understand light, you will spend a lot of money on gear and you will be taking very expensive snap shots vs. creating works of art.

The word photography is a combination of two latin words, foto- which means "light" and grafis- which means "control." So, photography, in essence, means "the control of light." You do need to have a basic understanding of how to control the light that enters your camera to have a proper exposure.

However, most modern cameras have settings allowing the camera to create the proper exposure for you depending on the situation. Two things the camera cannot control for you is composition (I will be talking about composition in a later blog) and the type of light reflecting off your subject matter when you click your shutter.  Only the photographer has this control, so, it is extremely important to capture the light you want. I call this "sculpting with light."

In order for your images to really stand out from the rest, you should sculpt with light. How do you do this? You can do it with studio equipment or natural light. Today, I am talking about sculpting with natural light.

You hear a lot of photographers talk about the golden light, one hour before or after sunset or sunrise, as the best times of day to make photographs. I agree with this general rule from my experience and have an example below to support this. However, you can sculpt with light any time of the day depending on the particular situation.

Last week, I was in Arizona on a business photo session and some vacation. My wife and I were able to take a few days and experience the Grand Canyon. We drove from Phoenix to the south rim and arrived around 2:30 p.m.  We were amazed and overwhelmed by the vastness and sure beauty before our eyes. We both wanted to grab our cameras and start clicking away like everyone else was doing.

However, there was one problem. The sky was overcast and the canyon was flat to photograph at that moment in time. So, we started driving around and checking out other viewpoints and hoping the light would get better. We drove and we waited and we drove and we waited hitting most of the sightlines on the south rim. 

Unfortunately, the light was just not cooperating and it was getting darker.  Finally, around 6:30 p.m. and at the very last stop off, the sun peeked through the clouds just in time for sunset and a sculpted Grand Canyon. It was glorious! 

I have attached two images to highlight the point I am trying to make that light matters in your photographs. The first one was taken at around 2:30 p.m. when we first got to the canyon. Sure, it is a nice image showing the vastness of what we were seeing.

However, as you can see, the light was not flattering or sculpting. The second image was captured at 6:30 p.m. when the sun finally broke through the clouds giving us golden light that sculpted the canyon and brought the image to life. Would you agree?

In my opinion, our patience really paid off and it was well worth the four hours of driving and waiting to give us a moment we will always remember in our minds and a photographic image we can enjoy forever.  So, remember to think about "sculpting with light" the next time you pick up the camera and go out to create a masterpiece!

Tom Dunn is an international award-winning photographer who specializes in business, fine art and high school senior photography. Tom creates professional, high-quality images of his clients that tell their unique story to customers, friends and family on prints, websites, marketing materials and social networking sites. You can view more of Tom's work on his website at www.tomdunnphoto.com.