Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light

Letting the Light Guide You

Here’s an example of a common photographic subject, a flower. I saw this flower and was attracted to it as a potential subject. I could’ve composed my shot to emphasize the flower’s shape and color, made a couple of images, and moved on. Although this might’ve resulted in a good image, that image might not have reflected the qualities that made me want to photograph the flower in the first place.

Instead, I slowed down for a moment and looked at what was happening with the light and how the flower looked different depending on my perspective. When the flower was lit from the front, the image had one look, but when I positioned the camera so that the flower was lit from the back, suddenly a completely different image ...