Light thoughts

"If I knew how to take a good photograph, I'd do it every time."

Robert Doisneau 

 

The irony of this remark is that Robert Doisneau was a brilliant photographer who took many great photos the most famous of which is "The Kiss"-below.There was a large exhibition of his work in the Pompidou Centre in Paris when I was there in 2013.I don't know if it is a permanent display but if it is it is worth seeking out.

I've been taking photos for over 50 years and it really is only in the last few years that I have fully admitted to myself that it's the quality of the light which really makes a good photo.I should have heeded the words of George Eastman earlier.
 

“EMBRACE LIGHT. ADMIRE IT. LOVE IT. BUT ABOVE ALL, KNOW LIGHT. KNOW IF FOR ALL YOU ARE WORTH, AND YOU WILL KNOW THE KEY TO PHOTOGRAPHY” 

GEORGE EASTMAN (1854-1932) FOUNDER OF EASTMAN KODAK 

The right light really is ingredient X.That's what Doisneau captured in this photo above.Granted it's a very captivating scene in an iconic location but look at the wonderful light and how he has exposed for the couple and let the building in the background burn out and how the light has pulled up the edges of the subjects.Although this looks like an amazing "decisive moment" and it was applauded as such for many years we now know that it was staged.Despite this it is still a great photo and he certainly set it up to use the light very effectively.

I tried to do the same in the portrait of grandaughter,Poppy, below.I exposed for her face and let the background burn out and the diffused back/side sunlight caught her hair and the side of her face and shoulders.
Photo Leica X Vario.

The strong early morning side lighting turned the scene of the painters below into a photograph worth taking for me in my travels up the north coast earlier this week.The photograph was not without its moments as the painters saw me taking it and turned rather hostile suspecting that I was an undercover inspector from the government health and safety organisation.I was able to reassure them,just,that I was only an eccentric who walked around on very early cold mornings carrying a camera and photographing men up ladders for fun.Leica X1 photo.