LIGHT: THE RAW MATERIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY 17
eect. Being able to describe the light is the rst step in being able to control
it. Or, if the light is not controllable, as is the case in a landscape or an archi-
tectural picture, describing the light implies seeing the light well enough to
know whether to shoot or to wait until conditions improve.
As photographers, we are primarily concerned with the brightness, color,
and contrast of a light. In the following pages, we will take a brief look at
each.
Brightness
To a photographer, the single most important quality of a light source is its
brightness. A brighter light is almost always a better light. At the most basic
level, if the light is not bright enough, we cannot get a picture. If the ...