Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light

Light and Shadow

One of the ways I help move away from literalness is simply to focus my attention on the play of light and shadow. When I do this, I’m examining how light interacts with the things around me and creates shadows. The play between light and dark helps to focus on the details that make something what it is—whether it’s color, shape, or texture. I may be turning my lens on a door, a wall, or a street corner, but I’m letting the light guide my eyes rather than trying to hunt down specific objects that I think would be photo-worthy.

I probably passed dozens of doors while walking down this street one afternoon, but it was the way the light cut across the peeling paint, the handle, and the lock that made me stop. The light and shadow ...