P#25 Q6B: Are Shadows in Photography an Enemy or a Friend?

Don't Be Afraid of the Shadows

Joe McNally: One of the other things that I advocate is not to be afraid of shadows in photography. That sounds like the kind of advice you give out on Halloween night, but lots of folks try to avoid shadows.

I look at them and say, "Why? Shadows are your friends." One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from an editor was, "If you want something to look interesting, don't light all of it." In other words, look for that play of light and shadow. Shadows in photography add mystery, volume, and depth. Don't always gravitate towards things that are completely bright or completely open.

Take a chance on things that you might look at and say, "Wow, that's a little shadowy or a little dark or it's a little mysterious looking," all those things that might shy you away from taking the picture. Go ahead and take it.

Don't Be Afraid to Go Crazy

One of the other things that would go along with that is always remember pixels are free. No pixels have to die, so experiment. Shoot pictures if you are motivated to put your camera to your eye. That means there's something that triggered in your gut, in your head, in your heart that caused you to put that camera to your eye. Then pursue it.

Don't just shoot one or two pictures. Shoot 20 or 30 pictures, or even 100 pictures. You can delete them later. You're not running through the CVS or something and processing film and spending money.

All you're doing is sending it through your computer and if it's a complete failure there's no loss. Trust me, I've had more failures than I've had successes in the 30 years I've had a camera to my eye -- every photographer does. If they're telling you otherwise, they're lying to you.

Have patience with your subject, look for surprises, don't be shy about photographing something you think "might not work out," and pursue, pursue, pursue. If it was worth putting your camera to your eye to shoot two frames, then it's worth it to shoot 20, 30, 40, 80, 100, or 200.

Then you can come back and find the surprises. You find those moments you didn't expect. You look at pictures and sometimes what you thought you were going to get, you did not get at all, but you got something else that's far better and more rich.

Audri Lanford: That's so inspiring. The idea with the shadows in photography is completely counter-intuitive.

Joe McNally: Lots the folks get the idea from our cameras. They're very fancy and they have their own brain. They have their own built-in intellect. Always remember your camera lens and meter are seeking the middle -- they are seeking that nice, spaced histogram where everything is very safe.

The camera's not looking to play at the edges, but your eye should look to play at the edges because your best pictures are on the edges.

In Closing

The rules of photography aren't always cut and dry. While you might think shadows are something to be avoided, that's not really the case. According to Joe McNally, you should always shoot as many pictures as you can and try to take advantage of the shadows in photography rather than trying to avoid them.