Category: <span>Light</span>

light, lighting, high-contrast, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1980,
Duke Street, Halifax, NS;  1980                        © Avard Woolaver

George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Company, once said, “Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” Light, along with time, is a key ingredient in the photographic process.

Many photos posted on social media seem bland–they may have interesting subject matter and location, good colour, even a good moment, but what they often lack is good lighting. I have heard that Lee Friedlander chose not to shoot on overcast days because he didn’t want to take lifeless photos.

The photo at the top of this blog was taken in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1980 –my early days in photography. It shows a certain type of high-contrast light that I was photographing that day for, as far as I can remember, the very first time: sunlight, directly overhead, shining on pavement.  The effect is even more pronounced if the pavement is wet. This lighting situation is great for silhouettes and good for isolating people and cars and seems to work best in black and white. Any time I see this king of light, I’m eager to capture it. (Yes, thirty-five years later.)

For me, then, this is a well of inspiration that never dries up. I go back to this high-contrast light again and again, always stopping to get my camera out, always pulling over to the side of the road and standing on the line down the middle, checking over my shoulder for cars coming. How is it that something can so capture our imagination that we never tire of it?

I think it’s partly that photography, even when it’s pretty much taking the same photo for the hundredth time (as my family likes to remind me) has an always-fresh quality. This photo is, by definition, not quite like all the other photos, no matter how similar they may be. For the person holding the camera, and later looking at the image with attention, the details add up to something wholly different. The balance, the atmosphere evoked, the contrast, the mood of the moment–these are all going to vary.

Moreover, for the photographer, there can be great satisfaction in dealing with the learning curve. This is essentially a private endeavor; that’s why my family isn’t really able to appreciate it when I stop the car. Sure, if I show my wife a photo I took as a student side-by-side with one I took last week, she can observe, “You’ve really improved.” But the incremental changes, the tiny little notches of achievement or refinement in being able to capture what I’m seeing, are perceptible only to me.

Photography is a way to share your vision, but it’s also an individual journey. No one else is on it with you, or not in quite the same way. It’s important for us to honour where we are in terms of what we’re discovering for ourselves over the years.

Light is a key part of every photo we take. The hard, brilliant light on a wet pavement is for me, for some reason, one of life’s great joys. It fills me with happiness to see these black-and-silver vistas stretching in front of me. I think I would reach for my camera in my sleep, confronted with such a scene.

Whatever impels you to reach for your camera again and again, it’s worth paying attention to why you’re drawn to it, how you’re photographing it, and how your photographic eye for the subject you love is improving over time.

Black and White Film Photography Light Photography

sunrise, Toronto, poem, poetry, latent image, imagery, image,
Sunrise on Gerrard East, Toronto, 1982   © Avard Woolaver 

In analog photography, the image is invisible and remains hidden on the film until it magically appears during development. Poetry can remain in our minds like a latent image. Here is a poem I wrote about this phenomenon.

 

Latent Image

 

Immersed under a film of random moments

A whisper of time when all was exposed

Then quickly hidden in a latent image

Time passed, time past

The moment is, the moment was

But I remember it differently:

I thought the light on the horizon

Was a holy orb

Lifting my spirit upward

I needed the picture to be whole

 

–Avard Woolaver, 2017

 

Sunrise on Gerrard East, Toronto, 1982” is from the book: Toronto Flashback (1980-1986)

Blogging Colour Documentary Light New Topographics Photography

forest bathing, shinrin-yoku, forest, winter, Nova Scotia
Forest Bathing, Newport, NS; 2017            © Avard Woolaver

The Japanese have many terms that we don’t use in English. One of my favourites is “forest bathing”– a leisurely visit to a forest. It is becoming more widely practiced in North America but has been a stress management activity in Japan since 1982. Ben Page, founder of Shinrin Yoku LA, remarked in a USA Today story, “A hike is generally oriented as a journey from point A to point B, whereas forest bathing is not about reaching a physical destination. The destination in a forest-bathing walk is more like a mental space of effortless relaxation and awareness.”

Studies have shown that exposure to nature creates calming neuro-psychological effects leading to reductions in stress, anger, anxiety, depression, and sleeplessness. It’s a good reason to take a walk in the woods whenever possible. I’m fortunate to live near a beautiful forest where I can get some exercise, calm my mind, and take some photos.

It’s pleasurable to walk in the forest, even in winter. There are numerous animal tracks in the snow, as well as interesting ice formations, and plenty of crisp, fresh air.

Photo tip: Taking forest photos in a relaxed stare of mind is quite different from the immediacy of capturing a moment. Take note of how your vision changes when you are forest bathing.

Blogging Colour Landscape Light Observation Photography

complementary colours, cool warm colours, rear view, winter,
Winter Balance, 2012                            © Avard Woolaver

You may have noticed the use of complementary colours on sports jerseys—blue and orange; red and green; yellow and purple. The combining of colours that are opposites on the colour wheel creates a sense of balance and harmony. It is something to consider when taking colour photographs.

American photographer Joel Meyerowitz, who rose to prominence in the early 1960s, is one of the pioneers of colour photography. In a 2015 Huffington Post interview Meyerowitz observed, “So color was a basic force in my development and I learned, early on, that it had an emotive power that needed to be recognized and which made me become a kind of early missionary for color.” A look through his powerful photographs reveals his use of complementary colours.

Photographer Eric Kim relates on his informative blog (erikimphotography.com) how this can be put into practice, “For example, if you see a mostly cool background color (blue, purple, green)– try to wait until someone with a warm color (red, orange, yellow) shirt walks by. It can be the other way too. You can look for a mostly warm background– and wait for someone with a cool colored shirt to step into the scene.”

Photo tip: The use of mirrors or reflections can be a way to combine warm colours and cool colours in the same scene.

Blogging Colour Light Observation Photography Social Landscape

colour, winter blues, landscape, snow,
 Newport, NS; 2015                         © Avard Woolaver

The winter blues are not so bad; they calm the mind and aid in concentration. And according to one study of Instagram posts, “mostly-blue images receive 24 percent more likes than photos with high concentrations of reds and oranges.”

Colour psychology is widely used in advertising and marketing and it’s something to consider when you are out taking photos. According to Wikipedia, “Many marketers see color as an important part of marketing because color can be used to influence consumers’ emotions and perceptions of goods and services. Research shows that warm colors tended to attract spontaneous purchasers, despite cooler colors being more favorable.”

One of the pioneers of colour photography was Ernst Haas. He used techniques like shallow depth of field, selective focus, and blurred motion to create evocative, metaphorical works. His colour work was based on keen observation, or “dreaming with open eyes.”

“You become things, you become an atmosphere, and if you become it, which means you incorporate it within you, you can also give it back. You can put this feeling into a picture. A painter can do it. And a musician can do it and I think a photographer can do that too and that I would call the dreaming with open eyes.” – Ernst Haas

Photo tip: Taking photos at midday when the colour temperature is high (about 5500k) produces blue results as does shooting just before dark. You can also play around with the white balance setting on your camera. The tungsten setting will give a nice blue hue in daylight conditions.

Colour Landscape Light Photography