Light and its Effects

I subscribe to a Photo Sharing community website, that has over the years been a stepping stone for many of todays published Wildlife Photographers to get exposure in this very competitive industry. There are so many talented individuals out there, and not one is better than the other, just their individual marketing strategies differ and some are more succesful than the rest.

But I digress, let me get back to the point I would like to make.

The photographs of wildlife posted there, are really fantastic. With the digital era, and adjustable ISO sensitivity, we are inclined to snap away at will. I have been noticing, that the photographs that I have been posting there most recently, are all Scanned images from my Slide Collection.

Using Slide film, where you were limited to your chosen ISO, more often than not 50 or 100 ISO, because of the superior light and colour qualities, and the elimination of grain and noise, the Photographer was also fairly limited in his window periods of snapping away. With the expense of purchasing film rolls, the mounting and development, costs were astronomical. You were also limited to take your pictures only in good light, as if there was low light conditions, the image would have to have been taken at such a slow shutter speed, that in all likelihood, the subject would have been out of focus slightly, or just a blur.

I have been noticing how selective I used to be when taking pictures based on the available good light conditions, something often refered to as the Golden Hour. This is the hour before sunset, and the hour after sunrise, when the sun is not yet too bright to overexpose the beautiful colours on display in Nature.

Digital has allowed for a far greater period of taking quality images, but we as photographers certainly never underestimate the value of those magical hours just as the sun is near the horizon.

Keep this in mind when next you go out for a photographic trip, look for subjects to capture at the times I have spoken about, make the effort, however mundane the subject may be to you, and see for yourselves the great rich colours that you are going to be capturing. It really does make a difference.

I have included 3 Leopard Images all taken with the great light I have been speaking about.

Rudi