Light and shade can be an essential part of photography. Light sources can come from natural light, for example from the sun or moon or from other light sources like studio lights or street lights. Many photographers have found being in shade, snow or rain can actually create better shots than the harsh midday sun which creates washed out faces and a high contrast. I have decided to focus on light and shade in night scenes. Using unnatural light sources I hope to create a dramatic feel to my images but also linking in the city by taking the shots in a city and including some city structures

Critical Study

The photograph I have chosen to write about contains lots of shadow, created by a small amount of light. I think the light source could be natural or unnatural, the light on the floor is very white however if the source was for example a street light it would have been more yellow but the photographer may have made the image black and white. I think the photographer was trying to portray the mysteriousness of city nights, as the light is in the centre of the image it creates a dark shadow border which helps make the persons shadows more clear and noticeable but as the photographer has cropped the person out, we don’t know who he/she is or what they are doing. This image also uses depth of field, the cobbles close up are sharp and clear but the further the picture goes back the more the image blurs. The main focal point is the human shadow in the foreground with a simple, dark background. The attitude of the image is unusual and eerie. This photograph makes me feel cold and wintery as the ground has icy white and grey colours. I think the photographer wanted us to feel intrigued by the image as it’s very inspiring. The piece of work makes me think of mysteries, I can tell the person is wearing a long coat and that reminds me of prowling inspectors. I chose to write about this piece of work because I like how simple but effective it is If this was my image I would  have zoomed out more so it creates more of a scene, however it may be hard to do this without taking the main focus off the centre shadow.




Leave a Reply.