A Word About Lighting & Patience

A Word About Lighting & Patience

By William Lulow

I have been preaching this for a long time now, and it may even sound repetitive, but photography is all about SEEING. Sounds too simple, right? There have even been blind photographers who have simply been able to “feel” something that they actually cannot physically see. That is amazing enough in and of itself. But really good photography is not so much about learning how to use a camera as it is about how to see.

Obviously, we use our eyes every day, but we often don’t really see things for what they are. Have you heard of the term “hiding in plain sight”? Well it is kind of a similar experience. Here is a case in point:

I recently had to photograph some musicians during a performance at a venue that wasn’t lit very well. As a matter of fact, the owner likes to keep the lighting as “intimate” as possible. So, there is never very much light. In this photo, there is virtually no light on the drummer to the left and the bass player is wearing a hat which puts his face mostly in shadow. Also, when the guitar player is looking down, his face is also mostly in shadow. So, how do you make an acceptable photograph under these conditions? The answer is patience and knowing something about light! You have to wait until the musicians actually look up into the light in order to make a decent image. Here is one example:

One needed to “see” this and have the patience to wait for just the right moment to get a shot like this. It takes being familiar with the musical genre and with musicians and how they perform to be able to anticipate the “expressive moment.” I listened to the performance with my eye practically glued to the viewfinder. I pre-selected my focus point and exposure and just waited for the various moments when the musician would be looking up to the light. Here is another shot from the same take:

Knowing how musicians react to their own music on stage made this assignment much easier and the results show it. Many people approach their photography without really thinking about it. Digital cameras these days, make it relatively easy to just take many pictures with the hope that at least one will come out right. It’s a far better idea to think about what you are doing and rather than invest a lot of hope in the shot, invest some thought instead.