Let me be completely up front, this is not a technical post on how to embrace shadows in photography or expose for highlights or anything of that nature. In fact, if those were subjects in school, I’d probably be in grade one. And that’s okay; we all have to start somewhere, right? As a matter of fact, teaching this old dog (aka – me) new tricks is something I’m quite proud of.
So rather than a guide that I’m not qualified to write on shadows and light, this is a snippet of how one photographer can inspire another. It’s about trying something new. Let me take a few steps back…
Learn and be inspired by other photographers.
I spend a fair amount of time watching photography videos on YouTube, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. For example, when I first stumbled across the wildly popular Peter McKinnon I’m pretty sure I watched at least thirty of his videos in a row. This probably is an amazing feat considering I don’t have nearly the amount of caffeine coursing through my veins as he does. Tea’s my thing.
And then I discovered Thomas Heaton, Peter’s polar opposite, except of course for their mutual love of pour overs. I also watched his videos back to back to back. Honestly, there are so many great photographers on YouTube that I could go on endlessly.
The thing is, I watch, listen and learn, but the minute I’m out in the field with my camera, it’s like poof – I forget all the technical stuff I was going to practice. Even though the photographic tips don’t always stick, at least the kick-in-the-butt motivation to get out there and keep shooting does. It recently occurred to me that while I come to these photographers’ channels seeking photographic know-how, it’s their contagious passion for photography that’s got me hooked. I guess I just find them really motivating.
So it was to my surprise, when standing in the middle of the woods, camera in gloved-hand, ankle deep in snow, that the advice from two of photographer Sean Tucker’s video lessons popped into my head. Protect your highlights. Embrace your shadows.
As I stood in a large patch of darkness beneath the trees (see photo above), the sun desperately tried to push its way through. The snowy pond in the distance sat open to the daylight. And I felt it. I felt the contrast of light and dark; I felt the loneliness; I felt the push and pull of emotion.
Protect your highlights.
My go-to tendency would have been to focus on an object in the foreground, perhaps touched by a ray of sun, and let everything else fade into a blurry background. And if there was none to be found, I would’ve kept on walking.
But this time, I saw Sean’s mood-filled examples of contrasting light and dark and tried something new. I let this scene in the woods – weak sunlight, darkened trees, bright spots of snow and a shadowy path, tell its own story. I let the lights be light and the darks remain dark. And there was certainly no bringing up the shadows or blacks during post-processing.
Embrace your shadows.
I think when we first get our hands on a DSLR, or even our advanced phone cameras, we’re amazed at the amount of detail we can capture. We photograph intricacies our eyes are incapable of seeing on their own. I would venture to say that zooming-in is where many of us cut our photography teeth. Don’t get me wrong, the intricate veins in a leaf, the individual feathers on a bird’s wings are true miracles that I never tire of seeing, and ones I will continue to photograph myself.
But it was refreshing to take a step out of my comfort zone and try something new.
Protect the highlights; let the shadows fall where they may.
Sean Tucker
To be honest, I have felt stuck in my growth as a photographer for the past year. Sure I can capture a beautiful scene and my sharpness has improved, but I can’t escape the feeling that something is missing. Perhaps the brush stroke of emotion that the play of light and shadows paint may just be that missing something.
How about you? What steps have you taken to grow as a photographer? Are there any photographers whose tips or lessons have been helpful to you? Is there one particular thing you’ve focused on that’s gotten you through a rut or made your photography more artistic? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.