How to capture "that light", making a photo look like a painting

[mugget]

Wow, thanks for everyone taking the time to comment here, great discussion.

Great photos that everyone has posted as well. Thanks for that tip shadowfox, I'll... ahhh... keep that in mind. 😛 😀

Painters play with light and my attitude is that I have to do the same. When I do it I am trying to create a feeling rather than just reproducing an image of a scene absolutely faithfully.

Nice, I like that idea. Sounds like a good motto to me!

Chiaroscuro is a $100 word for high contrast. It normally is used to refer to working from very dark values to very light ones in a painting, print or drawing.

Thanks for the simple explanation, I get it now.

Daveleo, thanks for sharing that email from Tom. I was sure that I'd read something similar from him in the past, about using minimal editing.

I definitely agree that it's "all about the light". Good tips to look for a low and side-lit scene, I will aim to give that a try. The fact that Tom Brichta uses such a wide variety of cameras is what struck me. But I guess that just goes to show that it really is about the light (not necessarily the camera).

I am not against some editing as well, that's actually another type of challenge for me - to be able to visualise a scene that will work well with some edits. It's a tricky thing to try and visualise and achieve a look that was not directly presented to you to take a photo of.

Just to talk on technique a little bit, I just want to get people's opinion to see if I'm thinking along the right lines with this: So if I wanted to capture a late afternoon "golden light" photo I should adjust the exposure to create a realistic looking photo? But if I intended to edit the photo I should "expose to the right" so that I have the most detail? Or would you recommend to always expose to the right for digital photography?

Cheers for the discussion so far, that's helped alot. 🙂

 

[charjohncarter]

I used to use slow slide film for accurate color rendition and finer grain, and I did not have access to PS or similar programs. It was a matter of understanding how light would form an image on a specific type of film with a specific type of light. It was a one time chance each time for me since I never bracketed shots. It was very exciting to get back a box of slides and then inspect each slide on a light table with neutral color light and a loupe.

Galen Rowell was one of the good nature photographers whose books and work inspired me to work hard to capture the right light in an image.

I agree, this was taken in between rain showers, with a 35mm camera and on cheap transparency film, no fake filters, no golden hour, no white balance correction, no in camera vivid color setting, etc, and no PS:

And nothing like a silver print to make B&W look good. But we are now inured to digital and it is here to stay so enjoy it.

 

[tj01]

... and to answer your question, i have no idea .