Tricks of Light

Light can allow you see things or not see things.
That's easy you say - if it is light you can see, if it is dark you can't. However, it can be more subtle than that.

Light and shade allow you to see shape. If there is no contrast, it is very hard to see things in sharp focus or even define edges or separate objects of the same colour.

A wonderful example showed itself on the last Level 2 Landscape trip. One student showed me a great shot of a lone tree on a hill side. He positioned it perfectly on the rule of thirds, but something wasn't quite right.

The hills in the background formed a dip in the centre of the frame. I suggested he try and get that dip off centre. Whilst watching him  work, some clouds scudded past, highlighting and separating the two hills.

Then the clouds caused the reverse to happen - dark in the foreground with the back hill highlighted.

On consideration, the darker hill in the foreground was the better picture as the eye followed the line up to the dark tree. The other image with the lighter foreground caused your eye to be drawn away from the tree onto the grass.