Light

Light plagues me. It seems like many of my life's challenges involve light, or the conquering of light. It is something that I took for granted until the last three years when I realized that some of the things I enjoy doing are dependent on how well I understand and can work with light. Today has been a particularly frustrating day with light.

For those of you who are skiers you probably already know what too much or too little light will do to a day on the slopes. Too much light and you are blinded by the white snow, not to mention the agony of burned eyeballs after a blissful day in the sun. Under cloudy skies the light becomes flat. There is no contrast and shadows disappear, making it nearly impossible to navigate through the moguls. Since I will forever be considered a novice skier this makes a trip down the slopes tough, if not dangerous.

With a camera in my hands "light" takes on a whole new meaning. It is either my friend or my enemy. For three years I have been studying hard and taking many thousands of photos in my quest to understand and utilize light. Just when I think I'm getting a handle on it I blow a shot and have to start over. F-stops, color temperatures, exposure compensations and white balancing will drive me crazy for the rest of my life. The search for the perfect "Rembrant lighting" might never be achieved. Sometimes I miss the old days of picking up a camera and not worrying about blown highlights.

This morning the "lack of light" just simply irritated me. When I am out running and the skies are cloudy it is impossible to see shiny objects in the street. I know they were out there.

11-28 $1.23

11-29 $.14