minniev wrote:
Now that I'm home, with access to my photos and internet (!) I'll post a few that I think fit this chapter of the discussion, about the role light can play in composing an image. I tried to pick different kinds of examples that I think may apply.
1. Canyons are hard to photograph unless you can get hold to some light that will define the rock shapes, textures and colors of the sides of the thing. If you walk as far as you can down this one on the Rio Grande you eventually find a turn that lets you get some reflection and some light/color to work with. But without the light this would have been just a jumble of shapes.
2. These are the same kind of tree, but the sunrise light coming over a slight rise behind me put the taller one in different light up at the top, which I thought made it a little quirky and maybe more interesting.
3. The light in this one doesn't land on one single point, but instead paints the rumpled fields in the Shenandoah Valley with just enough yellow sunrise light to define the shapes and give more interest.
4. Of course there's gotta be a dam bird. This one is not one of my favorites but was a favorite of quite a few of the viewers. The light comes through this "window" predictably at specific times and weather conditions, and I just wait for some bird to wander into the beam. It was there this morning, but alas, no birds, just the beam, which is far less interesting without my feathered friends. But if you identify a "light spot" that is predictable, it's worth it to pay attention to what weather conditions, what time/what season it works best and put it on your drop-by list.
Now that I'm home, with access to my photos and in... (
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Fantastic tips and examples, Minnie. Very grateful you're back on the grid