The Soul and Body of Photography

^Monkeys and Monkey Bars: Instead of photographing the subjects, I shot their shadows which told of their action in a more intriguing way with the rhythmic shadows.

It is almost a cliché to say that light is the soul of photography. If light is the soul, a shadow is the body.

Taken together, they are the tools for photographers to draw the pictures, much like a brush to a painter, a carver to a sculptor or a musical instrument to a musician.

But light and shadows are more than just tools. They are also the important factors in a composition.

^A Long Working Day: Hopefully the theme is somewhat echoed and enhanced by the long shadows suggesting the day was closing. In fact, it was taken on a winter morning.

Having known the ABCs of light and shadows:

- The light coming sideway gives subjects a richer three-dimensional quality and the light coming from behind is best for putting the subjects in silhouettes, especially when the sun is low, or putting your own shadow in the picture;

- Shadows cast by environmental elements can enrich the setting and patterns in the composition;

- The intensity and shapes of shadows tell of the time and season;

- The orderly, or sometimes disorderly for that matter, arrangements of shadows give images a sense of rhythm;

you may accentuate a photographic theme, the subject and the environmental setting by means of the shadows of different quality.

Next time you photograph, pay attention to the shadows in addition to, if not instead of, the main subjects.

^Legs, Pedestal and Railings: After taking the pictures, I kept asking myself what interested me about the scene. It can be the patterned shadows and the peep of the lady's legs which are in contrast to the coarse pedestals. This picture can also be as boring as those of the fellow which were challenging to the common sense about proper photos in his write-up of the ISO 1600 shots of GRD III. I just find the rhythm soothing to me on that windy autumn morning.