Working with light, learning about light.

[Redseele]

Coming from an older thread I opened a couple of days ago, I was wondering if anyone could give me any suggestions about who are masters of light. I know a lot about photography technicalities (like most people) from a few years of shooting, but I think that my problem is that I really do not know how to work with light (particularly in street and documentary photography, which is my biggest interest).

In said previous thread people recommended that I should study the master, so I started looking at the work of Alex Webb and Trent Parke, but whose else's work do you think I should look at?

Also, people tell me a lot to try to see what these people are doing with light, but what about written information on what they are actually doing? Not tutorials, but I'd love to have someone explain why certain ways of using light work and why some others don't.

I know this sounds like a lot, but I think a lot of "beginners" like myself could really use this information in order to expand our photography.

Thanks!

 

[Roger Hicks]

William Mortensen can be surprisingly informative. A long way from street, but very close to what you want to know. See Outdoor Portraiture, https://archive.org/details/outdoorportraitu00mort

If you read French, look out for Derriere l'Objectif de Willy Ronis, pub. 2012 I think.

Cheers,

R.

 

[mfogiel]

For street photography, look at Fan Ho, recently passed away Ray Metzker and Gary Stochl. In any case, you never go wrong studying HCB, although, as he said himself, the first element for him was the form, only later the light. Look up posts on composition by Adam Marelli. Then, perhaps you could enjoy some of the things I do: on my site you will find a series on Monaco light&shadow, in the "details" portfolio, and also look up my blog posts "Looking at Nice".

 

[Redseele]

I think from looking at some of these texts that the reason I am interested in lighting is because I do a mixture of street photography and portraiture (street portraiture? or at least I'm trying to capture people's interactions with their environments, or making stories of people within a photograph). You can see some of my work on:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mahler_seele/

I think in this sense the more I think about it lighting is important because it helps me convey moods within the stories I'm trying to create. At least that's my idea (and my still farfetched goal) anyway.

Thank you for the recommendations so far. I am learning a lot from every single one of them 🙂

 

[Bill Clark]

Typed in Google search "photography lighting"

There are basics to lighting. Maybe Google search "lighting basics"

After photographing for a long time, once I had the basics down I can change enough to suit my tastes.

The real challenge with lighting is recognizing it and using it to make photographs.

Lighting is important but so are shadows.

 

[Kwesi]

I think from looking at some of these texts that the reason I am interested in lighting is because I do a mixture of street photography and portraiture (street portraiture? or at least I'm trying to capture people's interactions with their environments, or making stories of people within a photograph). You can see some of my work on:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mahler_seele/

I think in this sense the more I think about it lighting is important because it helps me convey moods within the stories I'm trying to create. At least that's my idea (and my still farfetched goal) anyway.

Thank you for the recommendations so far. I am learning a lot from every single one of them 🙂

Hi Redseele,
Thanks or the link. Great photos. I think part of the problem you are having is that most of your photos are made when shadows are at their shortest or its overcast so your subjects are very evenly lit. There is nothing wrong with this but it makes it hard for you to "see" the light. As an excersice I would suggest shooting in the same places in late afternoon when shows are more distinct. That should help you see how the quality of light can change the character of the space/subjects. Hope that helps as a start.

Kwesi

 

[lynnb]

Had a look through your Flickr link. Some nice pictures there which demonstrate you already know how to work with light.

It might be useful to look at lighting examples and tutorials from a controlled studio environment, so you can recognise opportunities presented by natural light on the street and make the most of them; for example, by changing your camera position to get the best lighting effect, or recognising what time of day to go back to shoot a location when the lighting is at its best for your purposes. I found looking at traditional studio portraiture was helpful in more casual shooting conditions. Have a look at Yousef Karsh, and more modern practitioners like Patrick Demarchelier. Roger mentioned Willy Ronis; I admire the way he worked with the light.

It might also be useful to look up lighting tutorials (there are many on the web) for discussion on types of light (hard/soft/point/diffuse etc) and also portrait lighting techniques so you can apply those methods using objects at hand in the street environment e.g. reflective walls and surfaces as lighting reflectors; side light with shadow behind, etc.

Also consider the how different lighting techniques affect bw vs colour.

Another thing to experiment with is your processing techniques, whether digital or film. Sometimes you have no choice but to work with the conditions at hand, but with experience, post processing can make a very big difference to the end result. Improving your post processing skills can improve your ability to pre visualise a shot.