receiver built into the flash.I have been watching the DVD from the Nikon School called “A Hands-on-Guide to Creative Lighting.” It is quite intensive and goes really fast. To get the most out of it one needs to be constantly using the remote control, pressing pause to think about concepts and even rewinding to re-play sections. So far they have discussed in generalities some important photographic concepts about light:
1. Sharp light (as from the sun or a strobe) versus diffuse light (think about a cloudy day).
2. The color of light, with orange/yellow being warm and generally better for photography compared with blue light.
3. Direction that the light is coming from and Shadows. This is an extremely important concept. Normally pictures taken soon after dawn or just before sunset will be better because of the dramatic shadows and the warming color of the light.
One thing they said really stuck with me. That the shadows are what makes a photograph interesting. No shade or shadows and the picture becomes clinical and boring. This is true in landscapes as well as portraits. I couldn’t help thinking about some of Ansel Adams’ photos of sand dunes and American Indian adobe dwellings. And it made me think about the portraits of my maternal grandfather Ora Barnwell taken around 1907, and a portrait of my father’s sister Billie. Both pictures were taken almost 100 years ago, yet the photographers then knew very well about shading and shadows, and they were done just perfectly.
What really hit home is them saying that the famous master painters in the Renaissance were very well versed in the use of shadows. It made me think of the oil on canvas painting called “The Kitchen Maid” by Johannes Vermeer which he painted around 1658 - at age 26. (Vermeer lived from 1632 - 1675. Only 43 years.)
I have seen this painting in person several times in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam back when I was living in Holland, and I own a reproduction of the painting which I bought in the gift shop of the Rijksmuseum. It is special not just because of the masterful use of shadows and shading but also it is very special to me because it shows 3 different German stoneware pots from the 1500’s, of which I have a fairly comprehensvie collection.
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