God Beams
Posted May 31st, 2008 in [hide]Light is the essence of photography, as we can see from the word roots. ( Photo = Light; Graph = Visualization, Display ) Most landscape photographers take this to mean shooting during the Golden Hour, and for good reason. Incident light falls on our subject from its source - often the sun - before reflecting off the subject, to the camera.
The tonal quality of the light can play more role in the final image than, perhaps, any other single factor. We can see this in the work of Ansel Adams ( the crosses of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico; the clouds in Clearing Winter Storm ) or Sebastiao Salgado ( Sudanese Refugee Camp, Boys in Mexico City ). 
Both men produced gorgeous zone-system exposures, but, two of these show light filtering through the atmosphere. Black and white zone system photography highlights the effect, but it can work well in color, too.
Dust particles in the air can be one of the easier ways to capture the filtering light effect. Storms are harder. Water droplets suspended in the air can reflect the light perfectly, as Old Ansel showed us. Unfortunately, low hanging fog tends to block the sunlight; finding the right conditions can be difficult. Edges of storms are most likely to catch the light - and let enough of it through to make a good exposure. Read the rest of this entry »
