What A Difference The Light Makes

Photography is all about light.

With digital photography, it’s much easier to manipulate the light of an image you take. But the best pictures are always rooted in real life, in the way light is captured.

It’s particularly important to chase the light when shooting film. Just as the camera you use or the film you shoot can affect the final picture, so can the natural light and the time of day you shoot.

I live in the Kadikoy neighborhood of Istanbul, and I am always carrying my camera. Often, I will take the same picture twice (without realizing it) on different days. One of my favorite buildings in Kadikoy is the old Haydarpasa Train Station, and it always catches my eye as I walk along the seaside. Weeks apart, I took two pictures of Haydarpasa from nearly the same angle, but at VERY different times of day.

The first picture was taken in the middle of the day, when the sun was shining bright.

The second was taken in the early morning, when the sun was still rising and everything had a pinkish golden sunrise glow.

The composition is nearly identical but the images feel completely different. The slanty sunrise light adds drama and warmth to the picture that is lacking from the midday shot. Each picture shows the building, but the colors and dramatic vignetting of the sky add layers to the sunrise shot that are lacking from the even-toned midday shot.

One of my favorite photographers, William Eggleston, was a master at using golden hour light to add colors and dramatic depth to his images of everyday things. The simple can become exquisite under the right circumstances.

As I travel, I try to remember to seek those times with the best light– usually the evening time golden hour before sunset (since I am not much of an early bird). It’s easy to take magical, dramatic pictures without post-production– you just have to chase the light!