Half Shade and Timing
When I started using my large format camera, one of the early tests I made was on the effect of shade on the look of pictures. I had taken a few pictures with my digital camera where the foreground was in partial shade and was intrigued by the how it gave a depth and colour that was surprisingly vivid. When I was taking one of my first large format shots I decided to try a couple of extra shots just to see how much difference getting that critical moment made.
My instinct told my that the best momet to take the picture was just as the shade was opening up and with a sunlit background. Well you can see the results for yourself. The picture taken just before this critical moment is dull and lifeless; the picture taken just afterward is starting to become burnt out and has lost colour and depth; the critical moment gives a picture that has soft, open colour.
The reason for this, as far as my understanding of lighting is concerned, is that when you you have light transitioning from behind the cloud you have a combination of diffuse light and direct light. During this time you have the opportunity to balance those two sources of light, just like you would do manually in a lighting studio. Typically, the background will benefit from direct or only slightly diffuse sunlight because the harsh lighting doesn't have as great a negative impact at a distance.
Two of my favourite photographers have said that experience in a photography studio gave them an insight into how lighting works and this knowledge was particularly useful in the field. We don't have control over lighting sources in nature but learning to predict the different effects the atmosphere can have on our primary spotlight can help us make the most out of our subject matter.
I'd be interested in hearing any other observations about how the to use the atmosphere to create stronger pictures.
Highlight this Comment Dylan Reisenberger25/06/2009, 23:24
Hi Tim. First wanted to say how much I have been enjoying your blog – just discovered through David Ward’s. The detailed Provia-Velvia-Astia comparison was fascinating (wanted to comment but two babies under two keeping me busy!)
The three images you have posted very much support – exemplify perfectly, I would say! – the analysis of the effects of brightness on colour. It also feels intuitively right. Strong light partly diffused through cloud will lift that part of the subject out of the deep shadow, without reaching the high contrast levels where highlights may start to bleach (or the high contrast might also introduce visual complexity or ‘bittiness’, perhaps, with foliage or other plant material).
I don’t know which photographers you are particularly referring to, but I remember reading statements by Joe Cornish and Charlie Waite (I think) a few years back, explicitly comparing certain atmospheric conditions to studio lighting effects – the effect certain kinds of cloud formation might have in diffusing the sun’s light – or in acting as a giant reflector (doubtless others I can't remember). I probably didn't have enough photographic experience at the time to fully appreciate these, but have since experienced some conditions that seemed to fit some of the 'studio lighting' metaphors very well.
One was a dawn in Andalucia where extremely heavy vapour above acted as a giant 'diffuser'. The atmospheric conditions were extraordinary – it was possible to look with ease directly at the sun, which glowed with an aura much like one sees the moon with a halo through thin veiling cloud. Similar to your observations about the light emerging from behind a cloud combining directness and diffusion, the effect was one of extreme softness/diffusion with just a hint of directionality. This image gives an idea of the effect. I hadn't thought about the way the light might have affected the coloration (thinking of your point now about coloration), but was drawn to make an image by the way the extreme softness allowed us just (but only just) to see the textures.
The other situation was a huge bank of anvil cloud at dawn in Tuscany last October – this was the first time I had really experienced what people talk about when the sky acts as a giant reflector, turning the sky's colour back into the land. Almost all of the colour here (whoops: here) came from indirect light reflected off the clouds, as only the farmhouses on the second and third ridges had begun to catch any (weak) direct sunlight at that point. I had read about, but never really seen, this kind of phenomenon until that morning. (Fuji Velvia has done its bit to emphasize the pinks, but the puce was so astonishing that I have kept the original scan here to show that it is not all a piece of Photoshop!)
Is this the kind of thing you were thinking of, in studio lighting effects deriving from atmospheric conditions?... Looking back, I guess the ones I have highlighted are 'total' atmospheric effects (total at least to the picture), whereas you have started this blog post with atmospheric effects to balance the picture(?). I wholeheartedly agree with you about the use of light and shade to balance an image, and that that light/shade might be snatched half-shade, to get the best coloration or the best balance between near-subject and far-subject.
Apologies for the long comment... probably impolitic of me to go any further here!... I think the whole business of how atmospherics interact with lighting is one of the most fascinating (and fruitful!) topics in the whole of landscape photography!
Dylan
Highlight this Comment Tim Parkin26/06/2009, 07:00
Thanks Dylan, Your examples definitely show the extreme effects clouds can have on diffused light colour and quality. The original scan is fascinating with it's combination of warm pink reflected light and blue sky.
The effect of brightness of colour is an issue of balance as well. The colour intensity in shadow will probably be stronger but the apparent 'glow' will be greater where some direct light creates modelling light around a subject. I should take a look at the dark version of the picture to see if the colours are more saturated..
p.s. I checked the colours and it's interesting that the green in the fern was bluey green in the shade and yellowy green in the sun - the middle ground was a warm intense green. It's logical that this happens (from blue shadow and warm direct light) but I hadn't thought about the balancing act between the two extremes..
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