1303_2852 Low Tide
Every time I go out with my camera, I want sunshine. Unless it's the middle of the night; that would be strange, and probably signify the end of the world. But most days, like most people, I want to see the sun.
In reality, however, sunshine doesn't always produce the best light for photography. Sometimes cloudy bright days work very well for macro shots of insects, wildflowers, and colourful birds. Midday glare on a bright sunny day is the death of many a good landscape composition. Still, sunshine makes us feel better, regardless of how well it translates visually.
When I taught photography the hardest thing to get across was how to use light effectively. Time and again I'd see my students pointing their cameras up at a featureless white sky, trying for the landscape shot without good landscape light. If photography is painting with light - and that is literally what the word means - not paying attention to light is like using paint at random. You can get lucky, but you won't get lucky very often.
On this early morning outing along the southern Vancouver Island shoreline, I was hoping for sunshine, LOL. Didn't happen. With the tide way out, I walked over the slippery rocks as far as I could, looking across Juan de Fuca Strait toward the Olympic Mountains of Washington. They were shrouded in low cloud. The really interesting stuff was directly in front of me, in the rock shapes and textures, and the silvery highlights on their surfaces. Therefore I cropped the horizon very high in the frame, and let the foreground be my focal point. The light is always good for something - we just have to pay attention!
Photographed at Jordan River, on southern Vancouver Island, BC. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2013 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
1303_2852 Low Tide
Every time I go out with my camera, I want sunshine. Unless it's the middle of the night; that would be strange, and probably signify the end of the world. But most days, like most people, I want to see the sun.
In reality, however, sunshine doesn't always produce the best light for photography. Sometimes cloudy bright days work very well for macro shots of insects, wildflowers, and colourful birds. Midday glare on a bright sunny day is the death of many a good landscape composition. Still, sunshine makes us feel better, regardless of how well it translates visually.
When I taught photography the hardest thing to get across was how to use light effectively. Time and again I'd see my students pointing their cameras up at a featureless white sky, trying for the landscape shot without good landscape light. If photography is painting with light - and that is literally what the word means - not paying attention to light is like using paint at random. You can get lucky, but you won't get lucky very often.
On this early morning outing along the southern Vancouver Island shoreline, I was hoping for sunshine, LOL. Didn't happen. With the tide way out, I walked over the slippery rocks as far as I could, looking across Juan de Fuca Strait toward the Olympic Mountains of Washington. They were shrouded in low cloud. The really interesting stuff was directly in front of me, in the rock shapes and textures, and the silvery highlights on their surfaces. Therefore I cropped the horizon very high in the frame, and let the foreground be my focal point. The light is always good for something - we just have to pay attention!
Photographed at Jordan River, on southern Vancouver Island, BC. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2013 James R. Page - all rights reserved.