Comments on: Why Do Today’s Photographers Fear The Shadows? West Palm Beach Professional Photographer

By: jimmyD

jimmyD — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:20:36 +0000

In portrait photography, regardless of the sub-genre, what photographers sometimes neglect (in terms of the lighting) is the emotional intent of the photo. Shadows are extremely important to enhancing the emotional context of an image depending on what that emotional context might be. At other times–again the intent or emotional context of the image should drive this–shadows are better left out of the photo. It’s all about the language of lighting and how, as photographers, we use that language to communicate. A low-key image making great use of shadow may say one thing while a high-key image with few shadows says something different. The subject conveys attitudes and emotions with expression and pose. Lighting, with or without much use of shadow, should underscore those emotions and attitudes, as should elements like composition, environment, wardrobe and more. I don’t think it’s simply about fearing shadows.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:39:27 +0000

I think it’s because we spend so much time worrying about light: soft, hard, sun, flash, reflected, diffuse/refracted…. that the art of seeing shadow, of what to leave out of the lit picture, has become lost. We spend all that time peeping at histograms and the bleepers on the camera’s screen that we’ve become over-concerned with lighting everything. Black is not a friendly shade to a photog, and getting a true black on a print is kinda like a Holy Grail hunt.

Paul

By: Julie Rorden

Julie Rorden — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:25:39 +0000

The power of shadows and silhouettes to evoke curiosity and mystery makes an image more emotionally compelling to me. It adds to the photo storyline.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:36:26 +0000

I find it interesting that photographers would get to a point of fearing shadows. After all, to be a photographer is to be a painter of light and without shadow there is no form or interest to the light! It is just light. There is no longer any mystery and it has become “mundane” as the texture we see because of the shadows is lost. I guess a photographer that fears the shadows would no longer be a photographer by the very definition of the word “photography”!

As for HDR, it has it’s use particularly in rendering landscape images to more closely depict the scene as the eye would see it. The problem with HDR is that it is often over done and takes on an artistic or surreal look, which is ok if that is the intent. My preference though is to use HDR as a tool to capture a scene and render it to what I saw at the time of capture – i.e., if it doesn’t look natural then I have failed in my use of the tool.

The thing to remember about today’s advancing technologies is that there will always be those who misuse it. There will always be those who say a particulary technology is a complete waste of time (yes there are still people fighting the film vs. digital battle), and there will be those who embrace it and will see what it can do for them. For every advance we see in technology, there will be someone who will not be able to see why the advance is useful.

By: Joseph Cristina

Joseph Cristina — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:35:08 +0000

Close to a year to the day after I wrote this article I was listen to one of my favorite podcasts produced by Kerry Garrison (twitter: @kerrygarrison) called Camera Dojo Podcast. Kerry was interviewing Syl Arena (twitter: @syl_arena) a Speedlite proponent and instructor of “Speedliting Intensive Workshop” were speaking about this vary same topic. Take a moment to subscribe to Kerry’s podcast (http://cameradojo.com) and take a listen to this wonderful and very informative interview.

By: Trudy

Trudy — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:49:13 +0000

Great post. LOL @ Don mentioning Flickr…I was going to mention Myspace photography groups in 2006-2007 when I was new to using any type of social media. People would have complete tantrums and write the worst things about portraits with any shadows whatsoever. If it wasn’t seamless black without a shadow to show, it was considered a bad portrait.

Thankfully I am beyond stupid networks and only interact with photographers who have sense now. I cannot deal with the foolery of the Myspace and Flickr (I only use Flickr to post work in food not my main work) groups advising people that shadows appearing in imagery is bad when the Mona Lisa has shadows!