See the Light

Without light, photography doesn’t exist. If you’re a photographer you have to learn to see the light. If you’re not seeing the light, then you’re severely handicapping yourself.

Notice I didn’t say find the light. That goes without saying. But learning how to recognize it, you don’t have to find it. It comes to you. I can’t tell you many times I’ve gone into a session with a specific goal in mind and stumbling upon some light that just caught my eye and I couldn’t simply move on; I needed to take advantage of it.

That’s called seeing the light.

Earlier this summer I was doing an uptown shoot with an amazing model, Cindy. I had an assistant along with us to help with holding a flash. I like having flash because it means that I can find a location and, if need be, mold the light to what I need it to be. We wandered a few square blocks downtown taking shots at various locations. All of this was with the intention of wrapping up the session with a rooftop golden hour location. The intention being to use a strobe to balance the light.

We did do that rooftop location exactly as I intended and envisioned it. But while driving through the garage to the rooftop, I stumbled on some amazing late afternoon light coming in at a low angle into the parking garage. The light was broken up by low walls and huge cement beams which created some amazing shadows. Right away, the whole thing hit me like a sledgehammer.

This is a time and place to get some shots.

Cindy and I parked, jumped out of the truck, and spent about 2 minutes snapping some shots. This is the kind of situation that a good model really pays off. Light like this is fleeting and you don’t want to be racing against rapidly changing light to get the shot.

This is the shot we got:

Example of seeing the light
Model: Cindy, ISO: 125, 85mm, f1.8, 1/800

I love the strong shadows, leading lines, and strong light on her face.

We got a lot of great shots during the session, but this is one of my favorites. It’s one of my favorites because of the light that I simply stumbled across.

See the light.