Photo Shoot: Photography like baking takes patience - and often a Plan B
“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say,” writer Gregory Maguire wrote. His phrasing is more elegant than the photo discussions of highlights and shadows that were the main elements in many a textbook back in my film education days when proper camera settings were needed to match the contrast of the scene to film. Ansel Adams was the master of that technique, coming up with his “Zone System,” an involved process of exposure matched to a specific timed film-developing process. Not an easy thing to master, but when you look at his famous black-and-white photographs, the “system” speaks for the results.
Anyone with a cellphone now has this system and more always at the ready in their coat pocket. Digital imaging processing is so powerful now; just about any poorly exposed image can be saved with editing software built right into an app, no darkroom needed. Thankfully, a skilled eye is still rewarded with interesting imagery, no matter the equipment.
February arrived with a snowstorm on the first and went out on the 28th with another. But at mid-week, March arrived presenting sun and mild temperatures, once again tempting the thought of an early spring. Arriving a few minutes early for a classroom assignment at Cape Cod Community College, I came across a stair railing I had never seen before. The shadows and highlights were amazing. I was hooked and rushed a few photos. But, photography and baking both benefit from patience and time, neither of which I had, results were bad. I vowed to return.
Ninety minutes later, a higher-angle sun had changed the scene completely. The shapes and shadows had moved. Like many a stubborn person, I tried out my original idea, now it looked worse. The passing pedestrians are lost in the background.
Time for plan B. A different lens, a different perspective now forced the eye to the center of the image, which of course needed someone walking by in what would be a rather narrow slit of brightness. Now, crouching in a college stairwell during a class change is a bit unnerving, but it was all or nothing at this point.
Famed photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson said, “The only joy in photography is geometry.” Thankfully a person completed my geometric image without too much waiting, now if they had only been wearing a long red coat.
Contact Steve Heaslip at sheaslip@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @cctphoto.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: Channeling Ansel Adams - geometry, shapes and shadows.
