Reading Bruce Barnbaum's: ‘The Art of Photography’

Exercises in learning to see light more accurately (Paraphrased)

• ‘Quickly frame a scene and determine the brightest and darkest spot within the frame.
• As you continue with this simple exercise, you sharpen your seeing immensely. You then realise you are seeing every aspect of a scene much more intensely.
• Next you can speculate what would happen under different lighting conditions. As you peruse the scene for the answer, you start to envision it under alternate conditions. You begin to understand how different lighting would affect the scene.

Light Determines Form

• Look carefully to see how light affects lines, forms, and the relationship between objects in a scene. You’ll see that light is the determining factor.
• As you grow to notice the visual changes objects assume under varied lighting conditions, you will become aware of how each type of light affects your feelings about an object. It is surprising how much more deeply you will understand the essence of things by studying the light that falls upon each one. You will discover changes of meaning with every change in lighting. This will reveal ways to interpret those objects most appropriately for the message you wish to convey.’

Bruce Barnbaum

‘The Art of Photography’ 2010 pp 70 – 74

I guess this is the first time I have read ‘deep down’ and been really affected by what is being spoken of. The above-quoted exercise came to mind in the last few days and is already changing the way I look at scenes. I suppose this is an example of how reading can develop the way we do photography (‘Writing with light’) for the better…