Quality Of Light makes all the difference. Recently, while driving past a nearby farm I caught the last glimpse of the July night sunset. I pulled over to shoot a piece of farm equipment, only got one frame off, before the light changed. I vowed to go back every night to see how the field would be changing. The first three times returning I just sat and waited for the light to change- I never saw the light as nice again.- so the next day I thought I’d catch a sunrise. I have revisited the site many times now and I have never seen the light the same as that first fleeting moment when I caught the fading light. I heard once years ago, that Henri Cartier- Bresson would wait hours to make a picture.
Here’s night and day images. What do you think?
I enjoy both shots for different reasons Gail. One of the main reasons I like being a photographer is that I’m always aware of the light and how it changes the world I’m seeing. How many people would have even noticed that one moment, much recorded it or gone back to try to catch it again? I’m not as patient as you or Cartier-Bresson though!
Waiting for the light to change is becoming a habit. I think it is a way of life you have to cultivate. I wish I could be more like Cartier-Bresson when capturing images. I adore his work and that of Eisenstaedts’. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to shoot Mr Eisenstaedt once, and so I said to myself, I’m going to ask him for one piece of advice. Of all things he said to me, “make sure when you put your strobe in your camera bag going to a job, that you tape the on-off switch in the “off” position. I have always remembered that- mostly because I thought he only used available light.