Shooting into the Light S
trong light sources make dynamic elements in a photograph. Including the sun or any strong artificial light in a composition adds a focal point and, if done well, doesn’t compete with the subject but rather embellishes it. The challenge with including a bold light source in a picture is exposure. Don’t use the histogram to ascertain whether or not it’s correct. The reason I say that is photographers are taught to avoid a ‘spike on the right’ when looking at the graphic that comprises
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the histogram. This indicates some of the areas in the image are blown out, meaning they are solid white with no texture or detail. In most cases, though, bright lights like the sun and intense artificial lights photograph white with no detail. We expect this and accept it. In fact, when you look at the sun, a street lamp at night, a security light, or car headlights, all of these appear to our eyes as brilliant white areas of a composition with very little or no detail at all. The photographs then, in essence, capture what we are seeing.
