Many thanks to Benni for hosting this week's challenge. I love her choice of theme!! Light is such a fundamental part of photography, it makes me wonder why I never thought of using it as a theme myself!! We can only see the world around us by the human eye capturing the light reflected by everything around us. Photography is just an addition to this process whereby we can capture and store a particular combination of light at a particular moment.
I've done a lot of playing around and experimenting with light in my photography ever since I got my first camera. There are so many different ways of doing it. As usual I had a hard job narrowing down my choices, so once again I'm going to cheat and add a bonus shot!! LOL. The first three shots are from my archive and are all from around 2008. The bonus shot is from the most recent set I shot this year.
1) I love the play of shadow and light on the leaves in this shot.
2) You may remember a few themes ago I posted a shot from a series of experiments I did using a simple glass of water and how light interacts with it from different angles. This is another one from that set, this time looking straight down into the glass.
3) Sometimes nature provides you with all the light elements needed for a good shot. On this day, at Amroth beach, the tide had just gone out and the still-wet sand acted like a mirror to the sunset.
4) I never miss a chance to include a flower-macro, and this is no exception!! This is the heart of an Echinacea flower that had recently opened. No, this shot has not been edited in any way, that's just how it came out of the camera. The petals of the Echinacea are extremely reflective and in extreme close-up and strong light, have 'burned out', leaving just the centre of the flower. Another interesting thing is that the pattern creates an optical illusion. Stare at it for a few seconds and you'll start to see movement.
Hi Mitch, so glad you like the theme! Your leaves are magnificent, there is so much color in it, so many shades of green. Light, glass and water are three of my favorites to see in a photograph and you have combined them all in a fascinating shot that shows off depth and curves and the spectrum of colors. Your third shot is peaceful and lovely; I especially like the trees on the right looking down on the reflection of the sunset. Finally, what an interesting effect the light gives in your bonus shot! And what detail! I can see the little florets in the pattern of the center. That's a truly uniques shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Benni :-)) I've taken shadow/light shots of leaves many many times, but the one I posted here is one of my faves, not least because it was one of my first. Those Echinacea flowers are fascinating, I love to take macros of them. When they first unfurl, the centre part is pure green, then it changes to yellow (as in this photo) and finally to red.
DeleteHi Mitch wonderful all of them
ReplyDeleteThanks Heidi :-))
Deletethe first photo is so good, showing the light reflecting through the leaves, one of nature's paintings. the second is an interesting successful experiement, I likeit very much. a dream landscape and the flower showing again the details of nature's art works.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat :-)) I quite often take photos of leaves where they are back-lit by the sun, and more often than not get shadow/light plays such as this one.
DeleteI like them all. the shadows shapes taking interesting part of the first composition. The sunset light reflected in the water, so peaceful and serene.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sophie :-)) The sunset shot was taken on a day that was perfect for certain kinds of shots. It was perfectly still, not even a hint of a breeze.
DeleteWhenever I look at your awesome shots, I always feel short of knowledge of English language, to express exactly how they are impressive to me... from the top to the bottom, all the four leave no doubt that your talent is not for macros, only....
ReplyDeleteThanks Belita :-))
Deletehi Mitch superb shots.love the first one
ReplyDeleteThanks Nico :-))
DeleteBeautiful play of shade and light on the leaves.
ReplyDeleteA time/space portal.
Exquisite shot of the serene lake and surrounding landscape.
Love the vivid chlorofyllic light green of the rim-petals and the gradual darkening in towards the centre.
Thanks Anders :-)) The third shot is a beach & ocean shot, not a lake.
DeleteYou're welcome, Mitch. aha - looks beautiful as an ocean too ;).
DeleteSome great example of what light does for the photographer! I glass of water is very cool...experimenting is fun! The backlighting on the leaves is very nice. My absolutely love the reflection in the sand at sunset! Another fantastic macro flower shot :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Danette :-))
DeleteI do believe Mitch that this Macro shot is the best one I have seen out of them all. Yes, my eyes did see things. LOL.
ReplyDeleteYour other photos are beautiful in their own way too.
Thanks Shayna :-))
DeleteMitch, I have to say that I love all of these images. The macro shot of the echinacea flower has sharp detail. The first image of the shadows is wonderfully composed. It made an interesting pattern. The water shot is very creative. The landscape photo of the sunset is tranquil.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robert :-))
DeleteWonderful shots, Mitch! I love the shot of the sunlight through the leaves...green being my favorite color!
ReplyDeleteThe glass shot is cool!
Amroth Beach is lovely. I didn't realize the foreground was sand! Thought I was looking at water all the way across. Beautiful sunset!
I love the macro and the patterns are awesome!
Thanks Debby :-)) I took a whole set of shots that day at Amroth, both from beach-level and from higher up on the cliffs. The conditions were just perfect, the wet-sand 'mirror' is something I've never quite caught as well as that again since.
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