But the trick is knowing how to see it. Being there at the right time very often isn’t enough. If you don’t recognise a great photo opportunity you can’t photograph it. Likewise, if you don’t have a camera with you, you can’t photograph it either.
Great light is there but you need to find it. It’s very elusive too. It hides away in amongst all the ambient light that surrounds us all the while. Very often all one needs to do is to turn around. Take this image for example. I was hurrying back from town yesterday evening with my family. It was starting to rain, the kids were tired and grumpy and we were all getting very wet. I turned around to check on my 7yo as he was dawdling and lagging behind and saw this image.
It lasted only a few seconds before the clouds moved and the light was gone. Just enough time to grab a quick snap on my iPhone.
Great light can be found everywhere if you look hard enough. It isnt always obvious and doesn’t always last very long. It can be hard, it can be soft, it can be very directional. The trick with great light is recognising it when you see it, then making good use of it before it’s gone.
This was a lucky shot. A rain shower just before sunset. That’s all it took. It was far better than golden light yesterday after sunset. The irony of it though was had I taken my dslr with me I probably would have missed the opportunity altogether.
