It’s quite rare that I only include a single image in a post.
My photographs are often defined by location or subject.
In this particular case these points are of no interest to me.
This image is all about the light and it’s polar opposite – the dark.
When I saw how the low penetrating sunlight pierced through the grasses and lit the paling fence, I just knew it was a photograph crying out to be made ….. so I did.
Nothing more and nothing less ….. just capturing the light ….. in black and white.
I would think that most photographers have been inspired by the work of Ansel Adams. I know I have. Ansel Adams was a great exponent of chiaroscuro. The art of using strong contrast in a picture where light subjects are set against a dark background or conversely dark subjects are set against a light background. When used creatively it can work so well in monochrome photography. As well as adding depth to an image, it can be used in a very impactful and dramatic way.
Over the years I think I have learned to see in black and white. To understand how a scene or particular subject will translate to monochrome. To seek out compositions which when processed make an interesting and pleasing image. I am helped of course by the camera having a black and white preview but I need to spot the potential image first, long before I reach for the shutter button.
It’s not very often that I only post a single photograph, let alone provide an explanation as to why I enjoy the result. On this occasion I considered this picture of a dead tree in its skeletal form worthy of doing so. My reasoning – well for me it’s a good example of why I love black and white photography.
The horizon line virtually splits the image in half. Light adjoins dark. The uppermost branches stand out against the bright clouds. I have used the dark areas in the sky to prevent the eye wandering outside the frame. The lower part of the tree is bathed in light, enhancing their shape, texture and form. They contrast so well with the dark background of nearby trees and hills in the distance. I like the inclusion of a building, just to the left of the trunk. This adds scale and depth to the image without it being a distraction to the main subject.
At the time of taking, I ask myself how can I process the image to best effect. Will I need to darken parts of the sky and in the case of this image, where do I place the branches of the tree to make the most pleasing composition. I would like to think the answers to all these questions have resulted in an image which you can enjoy.
I have many photography books which I probably don’t look at as often as I should. One of these books is ‘Ansel Adams – 400 Photographs’. A truly wonderful collection of his work spanning many decades. His use of light and dark, form and texture, all of which he brings together to enhance the composition. Every page is a lesson in the art of great photography and includes many examples of how chiaroscuro is used to excellent effect. A book for every photographer’s shelf.
In the past few days I have been reading ‘Steeple Chasing – Around Britain by Church’ by Peter Ross. I am now about half way through the book and I am thoroughly enjoying both the content and the well written word. I can highly recommend it.
In the first chapter titled ‘Darkness’ two short passages spoke to me and in so many ways succinctly described my own feelings when visiting churches.
The first and I quote – “And so, as I grew older, I found myself drawn back – not to pray necessarily, but to sit for a bit, to poke around, to get in out of the rain. I began to appreciate the wisdom of John Betjeman’s words: ‘Church crawling is the richest of pleasures, it leads you to the remotest and quietest country, it introduces you to the history of England in stone and wood and glass which is always truer than what you read in books’”
In the second passage the author refers a visit to the Benedictine Abbey at Pluscarden in Scotland following the recent passing of his father. He writes – “…… it brought me a peace that I hadn’t felt for many weeks. I left far lighter than I had come. Was this a religious experience? I don’t know. Perhaps it was just being forced to spend long hours sitting in quiet. ‘It kind of gets inside you / The silence I mean,’ sings Linda Perhacs in her beautiful song ‘Chimacum Rain’, and old churches are like that. You are entering a building but really it is entering you.”
The six images shown here are a collection I have made over many years from visiting a variety of churches. I love to watch the light as it moves around, highlighting subjects which would otherwise be in virtual darkness. I endeavour to capture the feelings of stillness, of quiet and of solitude, prevalent in churches but not quite so easy to find elsewhere.
Perhaps it goes without saying that in the Bible the metaphorical meaning of light and darkness is often used to compare good and evil.
In John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
alan frost photography 