Light…Quality Flat & Diffused

   For many subjects the wrong quality of light can destroy the geometry of a photograph. The right type of light can enhance a subject’s meaning and communicate pleasure and information with one piece of film. What defines the right type of light and the wrong type of light is the amount of information in the frame and what it means.

   If the photographic frame has lots of facts and different types of opinions, it takes longer for the image to reveal its nature and is helped by flat and diffused lighting. If the frame is conservative and facts are minimal, then the conversation can be spiced with directional lighting working the suggestion of chiaroscuro.

Confluence Of The North Fork, Feather River, 2009, California

    The North Fork is one of three forks which create the Feather River which eventually finds its way to the city of Sacramento. The river is sought after by trout anglers who have the choice of Rainbow, German and other species, as the tributary travels southwest from Lake Almanor.

   The film negative made of this image is as large as letter size page. It is among the largest of imaging sponges in the photographic arsenal. The image is first calculated on a ground glass the size of a window pane which allows the photographer a great deal of deliberation. The photographer then gets to view the subject with both eyes wide open while hiding under black cloth. The black cloth is a magician’s trick loaned to photographers’ to seek the most intimate details a subject wishes to hide.

”Truth conceals beauty so you may find it yourself”
… Kakuzo Okakura, from the ”Book of Tea”

                                   All Content © Craig Carlson 2012 All Rights Reserved