Capturing Light

Book excerpt: In almost all photography it’s the quality of light that makes or breaks the shot. For professional photographers, chasing the light, waiting for it, sometimes helping it, and finally capturing it is a constant preoccupation — and for some an obsession. Drawing on four decades of doing just this, Michael Freeman takes a simple but practical approach to reacting to, and capturing photography’s most important commodity. There are just three sections titled Waiting, Chasing, and Helping: Waiting explains the kinds of lighting that photographers can anticipate and plan for, while Chasing explores the transient, serendipitous light that photographers have to work quickly to exploit. Helping, the final and most technical section, focuses on the skills and techniques for enhancing, reducing, or otherwise controlling light, covering everything from in-the-field shooting choices to technical transformations to post-production.