photography is about photographing the light

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Which begs the question, "If one has learned how to see, would one need to ever pick up a camera again?"

I wish there was a "like" button for this post.

 

[LAG]

But learning or knowing how to "drive", will not make you a good "driver", with or without a camera

p.s. (change drive = see)

 

[FujiLove]

Some photography is all about capturing incredible light. Some photography is all about capturing incredible subjects. The best photos capture both.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I dunno about that driver analogy. On the twisty mountains roads where I learned to drive, you were either a good driver or a dead driver.

 

[Vaughn]

But learning or knowing how to "drive", will not make you a good "driver", with or without a camera

p.s. (change drive = see)

But it opens up the possibilities!

 

[LAG]

I dunno about that driver analogy. On the twisty mountains roads where I learned to drive, you were either a good driver or a dead driver.

I dunno about those twistys, but it's dead or ... alive

But it opens up the possibilities!

Exactly!

 

[Berkeley Mike]

No matter how marvelous the idea without light, incredible or otherwise, you got nothing. You are in the dark and any subject may as well not exist. After that you are mitigating the amount of light that goes into a box with a sensitive medium. After that you recreate what you believe you saw.

 

[BrianShaw]

When I close my eyes I see no light yet I see the most marvelous images. I get great joy from those images and can recall them upon desire. I only wish my camera worked that way too.

 

[michr]

It's hard for me to regard "photographing the light" as having any kind of meaning. I suppose there's some golden-hour mysticism stirred in there, but I don't see anything profound about it. The phrase is supposed to be evocative, but falls apart upon examination.

 

[slackercrurster]

Photographs are about objects/people in the light.

Yes, sometimes the light makes the picture, other times it is the subject that makes the photo great. But light still makes the picture possible. (Unless you're using infrared flash, then you can do it in 100% pitch blackness.)

I will leave it to the scientists here to debate whether infrared radiation is light or not as we normally think of in photography. I've shot thousands of people with infrared flash...NO One has ever seen it!

 

[Vaughn]

It's hard for me to regard "photographing the light" as having any kind of meaning. I suppose there's some golden-hour mysticism stirred in there, but I don't see anything profound about it. The phrase is supposed to be evocative, but falls apart upon examination.

It has a lot of meaning for me, but then I am a romantic SOB and a photoholic. To me, photographing the landscape and photographing the light reflecting off the landscape are two different activities -- they just happen to use the same light, film, and equipment. It is just a personal point of view which influences how I see and photograph...and also influences my printed images and how they are perceived by the viewer.

"I will leave it to the scientists here to debate whether infrared radiation is light or not as we normally think of in photography."

Along with the question, is Magenta really a color or not...lol (No magenta in the rainbow -- not in the visible spectrum or something like that!)