When I started learning photography years and years and years ago, digital SLR cameras and computer software photo editing programs didn't exist. I started out shooting film, developing film by hand, and processing and creating images on photographic paper in a dark room. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent in the darkroom!
It was fun, it was creative, and I loved it.
Creating photographs back then was a technical journey and also a learning experience. And, although there were many creative possibilities to what you could achieve on film and in the darkroom, it was nothing like what is possible digitally now.
Digital or not though, the basic elements that make a good photograph are the same: light, composition, color, shutter and aperture, subject matter, capturing a moment or an expression, telling a story, etc. No matter how you actually go about creating a photograph, you still need to start with a good foundation.
Of all the basic elements of photography, light is, hands down, the most important. Even now, I often find myself looking at the light and how it creates and frames a scene - with or without a camera in my hand!
Sometimes I am amazed at just how beautiful light itself can be. I used to get really excited when I was able to capture the beauty of light on film ... I still do. And, although with software today a photographer or artist can now create or amend light, if needed, I still try to capture it "naturally" when shooting. There is nothing like natural light.
My piece above, "Pine Needles," was taken in our woods. It is, as the name implies, pine needles. But, because of the way the light was coming through the trees and reflecting off the dew and water on nearby leaves and trees, the pine needles were illuminated and, with a little over exposure, turned into something more than just pine needles.
Maybe I should have named it "More than Pine Needles" .....
ps - My print above "Pine Needles #2096" is available for sale at www.CarylAlys.com
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November 23, 2013
Beautiful! Looking forward to some more!!
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