Exercise in Light

1
After writing yesterday's blip, I realized I had written about something I knew very little about. Photographing light (that is, with a focus on light instead of things) is easier said than done. It took me a while to understand that my way of photographing doesn't fit this dichotomy of light vs. things. 

2
Of course I end up photographing things, and of course my camera captures the light reflected by them. But neither is my primary focus. What catches my attention as a photographer is what I call the "temperature" of a person or a scene. In one sense, it has to do with empathy or repulsion, with the energy flowing between photographer and subject. Does the person or scene evoke warm or cold feelings in me? 

3
Warmth is easy to photograph. When I perceive warmth, it's because there's something I identify strongly with, and I can zoom in on it. Coldness is poses a much bigger challenge for me. First of all, because I'm not attracted to coldness. I love heat. I love sweat. It takes awareness to understand why I'm not attracted to a particular person or scene and then to focus on that. It's something I'm not very good at, and I need to develop that. 

4
But there is also a more physical level I work with. When a person gives me permission to take his or her picture and I'm not sure how to portrait him or her, I sometimes approach the palm of my hand to his or her head. At a distance of an inch or two, I can feel hot or cold spots. (I don't do this with complete strangers, as it has an unsettling effect even on people who know me.) This helps me to decide on what to focus on. 

5
I realize this is more of an instinct based approach to photography. There's nothing wrong with that, I believe, but it's not worth a lot if you don't know the basics. And yesterday's reflections made me see that I know very little about light. So I decided to do some exercises in light (a very beautiful study in light is SaraEvan's most recent blip).