The Art and Practice of Finding and Using Beautiful Light in Photography

I think everyone at one point or another has found themselves thinking that the light at a certain place in time was beautiful. And since photography is an art of creating images with light, I am teaching myself to be ultra-sensitive to seeing and recognizing what that light looks like and how to best capture that with a camera. And recently there was a time when I was walking up the porch to house with my son late in the afternoon and we both experienced this light I am referring to now. I stopped and said to him, "see this light, it's beautiful isn't it?", he said, "yes, it is". So I asked him to wait right there and we would take his picture with his Karate Gi on. As you can see from the pictures below, we did just that. Just as my son practices his Karate, I do my best to practice my photography. To encourage myself to keep that creative edge as sharp as possible. So in this webpage, I will talk about my quest for seeing what I think is beautiful light and practicing the art of photography.

In my opinion there are two times in the day when the light truly makes an impression on me emotionally. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon. I've never been much of a morning person, but the light in the morning is really stunning and makes me think of words such as, hope, inspiring, peaceful.

The picture below of the juniper bush and it's berries was created in the early morning hours when the sun was just coming up in the horizon. I was on a camping trip with my family and decided to take a walk with a cup of coffee and my camera. It was quiet and I could hear little birds chirping in the distance. As I walked along I noticed the light hitting the little plants and wildflowers growing on the sandy desert road.

Sometimes I think it's easier to isolate the light I'm seeing and experiencing by using a macro or really fast prime lens.

I also believe that creating this kind of light artificially is impossible. This is why in my own portrait photography session, I try to use 100% diffused or reflected natural light.

I was inspired with how the light filtered through the tall tree in this Northern Vancouver Island forest, on this small little red berries growing on a bush.

morning light filter gently through the trees of the forest

beautiful afternoon golden hour light reflecting off the ocean water covering the shoreline. Photographed on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada while on vacation with my family.

Mid day warm winter desert light filtered by pinyon pine trees, small grass and plants to create soft light shinning on the ground. Photographed while hiking in the Anza Borrego desert.

Camera low to the ground looking up at the morning light coming through the forest canopy. Photo created on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Look up at rays of sunlight shining through the kelp forest in La Jolla, San Diego, California

I really like how the warm summer daylight bounces around and reflects off of the oncoming waves, then to be mixed with the wispy clouds and blue California sky

I love how the bright afternoon light reflects off the water in the waves that crash near the beach

I don't know what it is but I'm always inspired when I dive to the bottom of the ocean and look at the sun light shinning through the leaves of kelp forest which in turn create beautiful rays of light in the water. Seeing this light from this perspective is quite breathtaking and so I was pleased when I was able to capture this image, which I think illustrates what I'm writing about well. The photo above was photographed in the kelp bed just off the Descanso beach on Santa Catalina island, California, July 19, 2011.