So I just wrapped up what was supposed to be a four part series on composition, and then the very next day I realized I missed something really big. So this is part five of a four part series on composition. So the thing I completely left out was light. And honestly, light isn't just a part of composition. It's almost the whole thing. It's also the part most photographers get wrong and struggle with the most: not understanding light, and more importantly, not really seeing it.
A lot of photographers, especially those just starting out or those without formal training, tend to focus on the thing in front of them, the subject, the hard object, the thing they're photographing, and they're not really paying attention to the light hitting that thing. And that's the problem.
Here's a good example. One of the things I've seen very often when judging camera club contests is really bad studio photography. At some point, a lot of amateur photographers decide to try studio work. Maybe they get a light box for Christmas or pick up a couple of lights somewhere. They'll set up something simple, like flowers on a table, or they'll go a step further and create a concept shot, like an old watch on a piece of wood with something, you know, vintage around it. Yeah, I've seen a lot of these. And I've come to realize that a hundred percent of the time over the past 10 years, these shots are pretty terrible.
Why? Because it's almost always a failure to light it well. The lighting often comes from two sides because they've put lights on opposite sides of the setup. You can tell immediately from the double shadows. Or sometimes they use one light really close and it's just harsh and ugly. What this tells me is they're not seeing the light, or they're not understanding what it's doing at all.
When you light something artificially, the goal is usually to make it feel natural. In the real world, we typically have one main light source, the sun, which means we usually see one dominant shadow. But these images, they're lit in a way that doesn't exist naturally. And that tells me the photographer is only looking at the object and they're not paying attention to the light.
So let's step back for a second and talk about how we actually see. Most people think we see because of the presence of light, but that's only half of it. We don't see just because there's light, but because there's also an absence of light. In other words, shadows.
I figured this out the hard way many years ago when I was skiing in Aspen. I had always wanted to try bowl skiing. Bowl skiing is when you have a really big slope that looks like a gigantic snow-filled bowl. No trees, no obstacles, just a wide open space. For a skier, that's a dream.
So I finally get there. I'm standing at the top looking down, thinking, this is it. I drop in, and within less than five seconds, bam, I'm on the ground. I hit a mogul I never even saw. I get up, I try again, and bam, another one, and another one.
And then it hits me. I can't see the moguls. Why? Because the light is bouncing in so many directions, there were no shadows. Nothing defining the shape of the terrain. All the bumps were visually gone. So everything looks flat, even though it's not.
And that's when it clicked. You don't just need light to see. You need shadows too. The same thing applies directly to photography. If you're not paying attention to the shadows, you're missing half the picture.
Now think about why photographers love shooting at sunrise and sunset. Yeah, part of it is color, the warm tones, the magentas, the deep blues, but that's not the whole story. Part of the magic is in the direction and quality of the light.
Early and late in the day, the sun is lower in the sky. And that creates longer shadows, more texture, and more depth. Everything starts to look more three-dimensional and interesting, right? And if you have a few clouds, even better. You get softer light that wraps around your subject.
Compare that to midday when the sun is directly overhead. The light comes straight down. Shadows fall in awkward places, like under the nose in portraits, which isn't very flattering. And if it's overcast, everything can feel flat and muddy. But shift that light just a few hours earlier or later, and suddenly everything improves. The light becomes directional and more flattering.
If you look at commercial photography, you'll notice something interesting. Most of it uses soft light, but not flat light. It still has direction, and it usually comes from one side, not from directly above. That direction is what gives objects their shape, making them feel more three-dimensional.
Now that's not to say that hard light is bad. Hard light can be fantastic if you know how to use it. And if you want a good example, look at markweissphotography.com. He uses hard light a lot in his work, and it's really beautiful. But this isn't about soft versus hard, it's about intention.
And that's really the bigger issue I've been talking about throughout the series. Most photographers just aren't looking at the light closely enough. They see something interesting and think, I need to photograph that. And they don't stop to ask, how is this being lit? They're reacting to the subject, not the light.
Another place that I see this all the time is when people show me photos of their grandkids. And look, kids can be adorable, I get it, but the photo itself, it's just okay, or not. And that's because no thought was given to the light. And then I hear, well, it was a candid shot. And sure, that's fine. But just because it's a candid shot doesn't mean you can't position yourself better. You still have to find the good light first. Then you wait for the moment to happen inside that light.
The best photographs are almost never just dumb luck.
So instead of chasing the subject, try flipping your approach. Find the light first. Figure out where it's coming from. Look at the shadows. Move your feet. Adjust your position. Put yourself where the light enhances your subject and your composition. And then be patient. Let the moment come to you. Because when it does, and it will, you'll be ready. And the photo will be so much better because of it.
And here's the part I didn't connect earlier in this series. When we talk about composition, most photographers think we're talking about placement, where things go in the frame, rule of thirds, balance, all of that. And I did go over that, but what I didn't say, what I should have said, is that light is a huge part of that balance.
Light and dark carry visual weight. Jim and I talked about that last week. So when you're balancing a frame, you're not just balancing objects or colors, you're balancing brightness and darkness. You're balancing where the eye goes first and how it moves through the image. And I believe most of that is driven by light for the vast majority of images.
For me, the idea is ingrained. I don't even think about it anymore. I'm not just seeing objects, I'm seeing shapes of light and shapes of shadows, and how they interact across the frame. But that's not something you learn overnight. It takes time.
In school, I spent multiple terms just learning how to control light. And even then, it took years before I really started to see it instinctively. And that's the challenge. Because in a workshop, or even a short series like this, you can explain light, you can demonstrate it, but truly understanding it comes from practice, from paying attention, from making mistakes and adjusting.
So if there's one thing to take away from this entire series, it's this. Don't just look at what you're photographing. Look at the light, and be intentional. Because once you really start to see it, everything else in your photography gets better.
I hope that was helpful. Until next time, keep on shooting.