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Home >> Learning >> e-Book on Photography Table of Contents Photography e-Book Chapter 2 - Light Let there be light, commanded God and so there was and it was good and became the basis of all life in the universe; so goes the biblical explanation. On a more earthly scale, light as we know it on the planet earth comes primarily from the sun and can be measured and quantified. Quantum Mechanics is the branch of physics that looks into the world of the infinitely small as opposed to Relativity, which is physics on a grand, cosmological scale – physicists are trying to reconcile the two branches into a unified law, something even Einstein was not able to do but perhaps came the closest with his general theory of relativity in 1915. Incidentally, for those who want to know, Einstein’s epochal E=MC2 is from his special theory of relativity of 1905 (the general theory of relativity came in 1915). He did not receive the Nobel Prize for either theory but instead received it for his research into quantum mechanics, the branch of physics he later rejected. Einstein rejected quantum mechanics because it is based upon the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and as he put it, “God does not play dice.” Meaning, he did not believe in the randomness that quantum mechanics implied in the laws of physics.
Pure white light is an amalgam of all the visible colors in the spectrum as it reflects all the colors whereas pure black absorbs all the colors and reflects nothing back. The black SLR camera you hold in your hands is actually absorbing all the colors of the spectrum and only reflects a tiny bit back to allow you to distinguish between flat black and the deepest darkest black. A blue shirt absorbs all the colors except for the blue waves and the tiny bit of other waves that determine what type of blue it is. The rejected color wavelengths are what you then see and recognize as its color. I have now exhausted my miniscule amount of knowledge about the physics of light and I do hope that the real physicists will forgive my horribly basic introductory comments here. Let us discuss light in terms of photography. The Golden Hours Photography is derived from the Greek words “photos” meaning light, and “graphos” meaning writing. Put the two together and we have writing with light. Understanding the basics about light is key to obtaining the best in your photographic pursuits. Light is not constant and changes during the day. We need to discover light and its properties during different times of the day and work around those times when light is weakest or least attractive for photography. Most budding photographers have heard that the best hours for photography occurs twice a day in sunny conditions, one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset. Why these particular hours and not during the rest of the day when the light is the most intense and brightest? Contrast is harshest during the hours between sunrise and sunset. Contrast for light, is defined as the difference between the lightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts of the scene. Take your girlfriend or boyfriend outside during the late morning or early afternoon for some environmental portraits and you are going to end up with some harsh looking images. The sun will cast short and dark shadows. Your subject can only face the sun or turn around and have the sun at the back, as the angle of the sun is not enough to provide good side lighting, or at least not the type of side lighting you would want. The subject facing the sun is front lit and will be squinting trying to block out the intense light, not the best of portraits. Turn your subject around and now he or she no longer faces the sun but is now in a shadow situation (silhouette) that will blow out the contrast range of your film and give your camera’s internal matrix or evaluative meter fits trying render a correct exposure. The likely result of your shots will be either a squinting subject lit by a harsh and flat light of the sun or your subject blacked out because your camera could not handle the extreme contrast of the scene. There are of course workarounds to this situation but more on that later. Flat light occurs during daylight hours, as the sun is either directly overhead or very nearly so. The light has no dimensionality that provides a flattering look to your subject. Does this mean you should never take photos during daytime? Of course not but you need to be aware of the limitations of what this light offers you.
Sunset is even more dramatic than sunrise because of the increased amounts of pollutants that provide vivid sunset colors when near urban areas. Clouds are generally more plentiful during this time and they add to the colors with their reflective qualities. Shadows are again long and textured and there is just a quality to sunset light that is golden. When you see the light reflected off a window what you get is not a burnt out, intense white hotspot but a golden ray. Now keep in mind that it is not exactly at sunrise or sunset that the best times for photography occurs but just after or just before when the contrast range is a Goldilocks just right to balance out highlights and shadows better than at any other time during the day. For examples of these ideal conditions for dramatic photography, look at the images in just about any issue of National Geographic Magazine. When you look through the documentary or photojournalism shots, you will notice that more often than not, the photographer has chosen the golden hours around sunrise or sunset to light the scene or subject. Also look at Galen Rowell’s work, as you will find that he is a master of what he calls the magic light. Generally speaking the golden or magic hours are longer in the summers and shorter in the winters so adjust your photography accordingly to make best use of the light. My friend Wilson often lamented doing photography in the summer mornings because it meant having to get up at 4am in order to head out to a location, set up and wait for the light to arrive. Winters means being able to sleep in a couple more hours but your magic hour is more like a magic half hour in the mornings. Winter photography has certain charms though as the sun is lower on the horizon so shadows are generally longer through much of a winter’s day. So far, I have discussed light in sunny conditions but as we all know, we cannot always enjoy sunshine, especially for those of us living in temperate rainforest regions. My city of Vancouver seems to rain from about October through to June with the sun popping out only a few times during the prolonged rainy season. While not raining every single day of the rainy season (just seems like it) the non-raining days are usually overcast. Overcast conditions may mean that some photographers put away their cameras for lack of sun but for many it is often the best time to go out and shoot. Portrait photographers love the clouds as clouds equalize the high contrast of the sun and provide a gentle diffused light onto their subjects so that everything is evenly lit. Outdoor photographers love the way overcast conditions increase the saturation of flora. When weather conditions become more temperamental, this is actually another creative opportunity to explore the world that others would just as soon shut out. Of course, before going out in monsoon weather, be sure your equipment can handle it or take the proper precautions to protect it. You know a little about light now but until you get out and explore the properties of light yourself, you will not truly understand it. It will be a wonderful experience when you recognize the golden light during the prime shooting conditions. But with that bit of knowledge about light, how do we expose correctly with our cameras to create the images on film In this series of shots, the house is bathed in differing qualities of light as per the time of day. Understanding which light is the best for your subject will help you to bring out the most in your images.
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Max
Planck discovered that light travels in a series of waves that he called
packets of quanta. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation and
the wavelengths of light determine its color. Long wavelengths are red
and these are situated on one end of the electromagnetic spectrum and
longer wavelengths, which humans cannot see, are in the infrared section
and going even longer than this are radio waves. Light on the other
end of the visible spectrum is violet and beyond this in the non-visible
section, are ultra-violet, x-rays, and gamma rays. A rainbow is a prism
that reveals the color spectrum from the longest red wavelengths to
the shortest violet wavelengths. 
Sunrise
offers very clean air as airborne pollutants are only starting to get
created from the daily activities of urban areas. Winds are generally
not a factor, making for ideal conditions for macro or flower shots.
Shadows are long and provide subjects with texture. The contrast between
shadows and light areas is within a range that can be handled a bit
better than noontime light by most modern cameras and many negative
films but chrome films will still require some neutral density filtration
to balance out the scene. 
