P#34: Comparing Night and Day at the Snake River

Night and Day

Terry Donnelly: Let's talk about the first two photographs simultaneously since they were both taken in the Tetons at the Oxbow of the Snake River. The reason I put two shots of the same location in was to show how lighting can make such a dramatic change in what is essentially the same scene.

Both the first and the second pictures are composed within days of each other. They were taken just this past September. The fall color was spectacular, and the light and weather conditions were very dramatic.

The first picture is an evening photograph, and there are some really black clouds with a few places almost opening. The mountains are almost obscured, but the trees in the foreground along the Snake River are just absolutely glowing. (click the image for a larger version)

I think this is one of my favorite pictures because it creates such mood and it has such a presence.

To compare the first picture with the second one, and the second one is the same location, taken in the morning -- it's a sunrise picture. Again, there are some clouds rolling around, but the difference is that there's clear light sweeping in from the photographer -- from my left ear. (click the image for a larger version)

The sun just comes under the clouds, hits those trees and lights them up. It creates a totally different mood than the first picture.

Audri Lanford: It really does.

Terry Donnelly: For our calendar clients, it's a rare one that would pick up the first picture. The second one would be much more attractive to them because they're always saying, "Terry, we need more optimistic light," so this second picture, with that strip of blue sky across the top makes it a much more optimistic photograph and it's not quite as ominous as the first one. My personal favorite however, is the first one.

In Summary

It's true that lighting can make all the difference in the world when it comes to a photograph. By simply changing the lighting of a scene, a photograph can tell two totally separate stories. Terry demonstrated this by including two completely different photographs of the same scene at the Snake River during his 7 Photography Questions interview.