Lesson 6 – Use Shadows In Your Photography

Lesson 6

As you’re probably starting to gain from these lessons, I’m trying to get you to see how the power of photography lies in the process of suggesting your scene and inviting the viewer to imagine the rest of your scene.

If you only show part of your subject, you invite your audience to think about what’s NOT there. This allows them to fill in the rest of the story in their minds and attach their own meaning to your image.

Nothing helps accentuate that abbreviation aspect in photography than by using shadows. Shadows insinuate shape, form, texture and style to your subject matter and they add a great deal of flavor to to your shots.

Shadows are so effective in photography, because they hide things. By not revealing every single element in your frame, you allow your viewer to WONDER and IMAGINE. As I pointed out in a previous lesson, whenever you actively engage your viewer, you go a long way towards creating a more compelling image.

In addition, when you place bright colors against a dark background, the brain perceives those colors to be more saturated than if they’re set against a bright background. Simply using shadows in your scene helps you create more bold imagery.

Creative Challenge #4

Shadows are your best friend in photography, so I encourage you to make heavy use of them in your photography.
Look for sun-lit subjects, or parts of subjects that sit in front of areas that aren’t lit by the sun.
Make sure you expose for the brightest subject matter so your darker areas drop to black. Use your exposure compensation (EV+/-) control to fine tune the tones in your scene.
Even though it’s often recommended that we “expose to the right” with digital photography, Don’t be afraid to create images with “left-heavy” histograms.

Want More?

Here's another article I wrote about the power of using shadows in your photography.

In the next lesson, we'll talk about how to create visual tension in your compositions.