light

When Light Feels Like Memory

This Christmas, we were sitting with some family and going through some of my annual photo books. 

“I tend to take my camera everywhere,” I told my mother-in-law as she relived the past few years through pictures. Some of those photo albums featured her, either at birthday parties or on a family trip to Wisconsin.

Looking through those photo books, all those ordinary moments feel anything but ordinary when you see them again.

As we turned the pages, I realized how much of what I remember is tied to the light of a place.

Light ends up highlighting how a scene, location, or event felt. Not just how it looked, but how I remember it: the warmth on a Lake Michigan beach. The quiet of a winter afternoon. The way a place said “home.”

In the winter, I always watch for the familiar light to return to the south side of the house. When it’s cold out, the light makes its merry way across the walls and floors again. When it shows up, I try to notice and capture it.

Looking back at old photos, I realize how much I miss the big picture window in our previous home’s living room (above). We made so many memories there. Morning light spilling in. Late afternoon shadows. Kids on the floor or the couch.

Quiet moments that felt small then, but feel enormous now.

Over the years, I knew that old house’s light and followed it according to the seasons.

In this house, the light is different. It arrives at different times, from different angles, and I’ve learned to take advantage of it where and when I can.

That’s part of why it helps to take a camera everywhere, or keep one on me at all times. I try to notice the light when it shows up and grab it while it’s there.

Then, when we look back, we’re not just seeing a photo; we are reliving how that light made the moment feel.

 

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Austin, Texas: Shapes and Shadows

I’ve traveled a lot this year. 

On the way to the airport, this time to Austin, Texas, for a conference, I thought, “I’ve used this parking garage an awful lot lately.” 

It’s not a bad thing. I love to travel, and these trips have allowed me to try out more street photography than I usually do.

Back home, my pictures are mostly people-less. A city like Austin, though, lets me walk around an urban environment and practice in the streets.

My Austin trip was so inspiring (and warm – it was a perfect 70-80 degrees and sunny in mid-November, much warmer than Michigan) that I went out to shoot every chance I could. That gave me a ton of photos to select, organize, and process.

Consider this the first post in a series of albums from Austin – this time focusing on light/shadow, my usual go-to when out shooting. Look for more traditional street shots, with people, and others from around Austin in the next few weeks. 

Shot on the Canon M6 and EF-M 22mm and 32mm lenses.

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Disgust For All

Disgust For All

Not much to say on this, the day after the U.S. election, but a few thoughts I had this morning waking up to the news:

  • Info bubbles are bad—it’s so important to step outside of what you normally read about or hear and listen to other echo chambers.
  • “Vibes” alone aren’t enough to sway people who have legitimate concerns about the country’s direction.
  • Who shows up matters and ultimately determines the outcome. If you don’t have the votes, you don’t win – simple, but hard to execute.
  • America is a tough place to understand sometimes, and it’s getting tougher.

I’m sad and nervous. I’m also dumping my usual sources for information (Twitter – deleted my account, and Reddit for general browsing) and am committed to casting a weary, skeptical eye on news media reports that seem confident.

In the meantime, we all have feelings to process and art to make. Let’s get back to work.

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Home

Inside and outside, the light is changing.

Shot mostly on the Canon M6 and EF-M 32mm f/1.4.

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Light Just Right

A note about waiting for good light.

The above is the same house taken at the same time of year, within a day or two of each other, just at different times during the morning.

I drive by this little house a few times a week. For months, I’ve thought to myself: “That would make for a good photograph.” Finally, one morning, I had time enough to pull over and take the shot. The first attempt is the one on the left.

The light is okay. There’s a touch on the front porch and a bit on the left near the chair—that golden morning light hitting halfway between the front door and the stairs.

But something felt off when I got back and imported the picture into Lightroom. The house itself is too much in the shade, while the lawn and the trees on the right have a neutral, even light. The fluffy clouds in the upper left are a nice touch though.

So I gave it another try, this time earlier in the morning when the sun was hitting the entire house on the side, coming from the East on the left. Angled shadows hit the lawn and the front of the house, and the sunshine lit up that (cursed) Ohio flag. The porch is a bit more in shade, but there’s still a touch of light hitting the chair.

The temperature of the light, too, is different in the second shot: it is more golden and a bit harsher, painting the scene with a more dramatic brush. I do miss those fluffy clouds from the first image, though.

Both are fine. I’m glad I took another stab at it. The light was worth waiting for.

Here’s the final photo:

Both images shot with the Canon M6 and EF-M 28mm f/3.5 macro.

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Sheds of Summer

Some random summer evening shots around the neighborhood.

Out on walks, I noticed a surprising number of barn-shaped sheds. The light around 7:30 PM hit just right.

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