Finding the light

Light reveals the different shapes of the bottles.

The camera is a brilliant little contraption. It takes pictures, captures scenes and produces photographs. But, technically, it basically gathers light through its lens and a sensor captures the light streaming in. All cameras – whether SLRs, rangefinders, DSLRs, pinholes or what-have-you – are built the same in this sense.

But not a lot of photographers realize this. Most are oblivious to this fact and go on their ways taking photographs without taking account of the light when in fact, some of the essential questions a photographer should ask before pressing the shutter release button is: Where is the light? After which, the photographer should ask: Where is it coming from? What color is it? How strong is it? How weak? Is it appropriate for the shot? Among others.

To be a successful image creator, one has to see the light and describe it in terms of its direction, source (or sources), power, color, size, duration and most importantly, usage.