Charles T. Low Photography

It's all about light. If I say, It's only ever been about light, then any exaggeration is minor. It has always been primarily about light.

A photographer or any visual artist can recognize light, create light, modify light, but cannot ignore light. I use a six-pillar framework (documented elsewhere) to strive towards the creation of art, and prominent among the factors is, of course, light.

(Also: composition, background, subject, meaning, beauty.)

Above is Tunnel Bay in Brockville, Ontario, early on New Year's Day, and those reflections were caused by a film of water on top of a partial covering of ice. I have never seen that before quite like that and might never again. Several other photographers were on the scene, and made images as good or better; the altercations over optimal vantage were minimal.

I was there (it surprised me later to learn) for an hour, wandering around, pointing my lens at this and that, and the change in light at that time of day, from early dawn to after sunrise (albeit under thick cloud) was — as always — astounding.

The quality of the light, regardless of what I might more likely consider as dull, overcast skies, I found extremely pleasing, and well-suited to the scene.

At about the same time, however, I also made the following, and that is 100% in-the-camera (for the technophiles among you). Most of my images undergo some editing, but the high key version below did not; same ambient light, different treatment of it. For those of you who may wish to know more, then feel free to be in touch.

I also know that this high-key image appears very differently on different monitors (notoriously non-standardized). Try turning your brightness down a bit and see if more detail emerges.

Above is Morristown, NY, a mile across the St. Lawrence River from Brockville, ON, and the strip of open water cooperated perfectly to frame those reflections for me. Again, it was a first for me, of a familiar subject, and unlikely ever to repeat.

Below is an afternoon Golden Hour scene, the river somewhat undecided that day about whether to freeze over or not.

For those more familiar with my dawn work, my point today is about light — many varieties of light, where and at whatever time of day we can find it. The patterns were there all day, but this light, with its blues and pinks, was not.

The image above however shows a similar pattern, but with a very different light, again well before sunrise, with very little colour in it, although this is not a monochromatic photograph. It felt frankly a little boldly artsy of me to point my lens at this scene; the subject is the pattern itself, which is absolutely not an original idea of my own, but isn't something which forms the preponderance of my work.

The one below however, extends this theme, again from a different day and a different spot, and is less a recording or documentation of the scene, and more me using the out-of-camera photograph only as a starting point.

I like it (or I wouldn't be showing it), quite a bit actually, if you don't mind me saying. As Freeman Patterson teaches, it looks more as it felt to me than how it looked.

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The Light-Hearted Photographer

There is so much for an artist to think about, and for a photographic artist this includes arcana such as f-stops, ISO, shutter speed, focal length, let alone the six-point art-framework I alluded to above. But I am going to say it again:

It is always and only about the light. A strong composition might compensate for a less impactful subject (for example), but almost any photograph needs to be built upon a great light.

Remember to look through my portfolio. Almost everything is for sale. I favour large wall art, and also deal in small prints, notecards, and (most recently) postcards.

Thank you all so much for reading! I would love to hear from you.

Charles T. Low
Photographer
Blog #77
2022-02-10

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