Mastering the Art of Light: How Direction Impacts Your Surf Photos
Introduction:
Today, we're going to explore how the direction of sunlight can transform the look and feel of your photos. There's often a debate about whether shooting directly into the light is right or wrong, but I believe that photography is an art form where personal style and experimentation are all that matters so there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. However,understanding the impact light, and the direction of light will have on your images is essential to developing whichever style you want to achieve.
Shooting into the Sun: Unleash the Artistic Side
When you shoot directly into the sun, you open the door to vibrant light that can add a touch of magic to your photos. However, it's important to note that subjects can often appear as silhouettes against the backdrop of the glowing sun. To bring out more detail and maintain that dreamy backlit style, try shifting your angle by around 20-30 degrees. This way, the sun is still positioned behind the subject but not directly behind it, allowing you to capture more intricate elements and details.
Capturing a wave with the sun positioned behind it creates a stunning backlit effect, illuminating the face of the wave with vibrant blues and greens. Additionally, silhouettes can be used creatively to evoke a sense of artistry. Sometimes, the outline of a surfer in mid-air, carving through the top of a wave or standing on the shoreline, can be far more visually captivating as a silhouette than as a fully exposed, colourful image.
Shooting into the sun is a style that embraces artistic expression. While it may lack specific subject details, it compensates by evoking a powerful "feeling" within the photograph.
Shooting with the Sun Behind You: Illuminate the Details
On the other hand, when the sun is positioned behind you, it casts light over your shoulder, illuminating the front of your subject. This technique may not work well for portrait photography, as your subject would likely be squinting directly into the sun. However, when capturing waves or surfers riding them, this direction of light highlights the subject, revealing all the colour and detail.
You've likely seen shots in magazines with waves lit up with vibrant shades of blue, with every detail of the surfer and their equipment beautifully showcased. These images are typically taken with the sun positioned behind the photographer, lighting the subject in full detail. This approach is particularly valuable for advertisements and brand shots, allowing all the product details to be showcased.
It's worth noting that shooting into the sun tends to produce warmer, yellow-toned images, while shooting with the sun behind you brings out stronger blues in the water and vivid colours in surfboards and clothing.
Conclusion:
By understanding the impact of sunlight's direction, you can control the style and ambiance of your photographs. Whether you choose to shoot into the sun for a touch of artistic allure or position yourself with the sun behind you to reveal specific details, the choice is yours. Embrace experimentation, follow your own style, and get creative with light to really enhance your images.
