Friday, May 2, 2008

Light makes the picture.

Each day I discover something new about photography. Many times its something I've heard before, but suddenly it makes sense. My uncle (a retired professional photographer) describes photography as painting with light, and now I understand what he meant.

Because it was overcast, and threatening rain, I thought the weather was all wrong for good photos. To my surprise it was actually perfect. Because it was cold and we'd had some rain, the air was crisp and clear. Small breaks in the dark clouds provided an interesting variation in the light, resulting in the buildings along Durban's golden mile being illuminated, making them stand out even at a significant distance.

The bluff of course, clothed in its natural vegetation, absorbed all the light it received, giving the strong contrast to the town.

2 comments:

sam said...

great shot! You are so right, this kind of sky often makes for much more interesting photos.

sam said...

PS.... of course what you Durbanites call "cold" is slightly different to what the rest of the world would call it... anything less that 20 degrees C seems to be classified as cold for you who bask in tropical climes! ;)