The Meaning of Photography
This weekend I read a blog written by a Greek photographer. He started the post by sharing the origins of the word photography. As it turns out, it is a combination of the Greek root words "photo," meaning "light," and "-graphia," meaning "writing" or "drawing." This was a surprise, but then I know as a photographer that it is all about the light, capturing it and using it to communicate the emotion in the scene. His photos of Athens made think about my recent trip to Greece, where most of my photos were taken in the bright, harsh, midday light. I had to adjust my exposure to not blow out the highlights, and take time in post production to bring out the shadows.
It was a good lesson for me, as I usually prefer walking in the early morning, when the light is softer, such as in this shot of the sun rising over South Lake Union in Seattle.
Sometimes you can get lucky and capture streams of light when the weather is difficult. I took this shot in Iceland a few years ago. We were fortunate to capture these light streams coming through the dark clouds.
Take advantage of light coming through windows or open spaces, such as in this photo I took in the country of Georgia. The horse was back lit with the light streaming in from a high window in his stall.
We can also find interesting images capturing the light around our neighborhoods while out Camera Walking. This is one of my favorite windows that I see on my walks. I was drawn to it because of the light speckled across the stucco building and highlighting the stairs inside.
And this old school portable becomes interesting with the light reflecting on its door.
While I was taking the above image, a middle school kid asked me if I lived around here. When I answered yes, he began telling me that Kerry Park was a great place to take photos. I am sure he wondered why I was taking a shot of the portable, but he was right, Kerry Park is a great place to take images. This one was taken from the park close to sunset. It is the iconic shot of Seattle.
Of course light is key to capturing interesting photos of people. One of my friends, Rick Sammon, likes to say that the shadows tell the story. I took this photo at the height of summer sun while I was in Wyoming. I turned it into a black and white image for more contrast.
Moving forward, I will know that when I take an image I am "drawing with light." I hope you will as well. Please let us know what you think by commenting below, posting on our Facebook page, or sending us an email.
