As photographers, we are always looking for the light.  Rim light, back light, side light.  Ambient, hard, diffuse.  The light speckles or washes over a scene or subject and we must capture it.

There are days I wish I could bottle up the light that falls onto my desk.  Or the light that fills my bathroom.  Or the light that streams through the front windows onto the dining room table.  I want it all.

The more I shoot, the more I look, the more I realize that part of the all  I want to bottle is the shadow that sometimes rests with the light.  One doesn’t exist without the other.

Shadow can be a wonderful way to add contrast and drama.  It can direct the eye.  It can underscore form and texture.  It can evoke emotion.

Light and shadow, working together.  In noticing one, I am led to notice the other.  Sometimes I’m not sure what pulls me into a scene first, the light or the shadow.  But it hardly matters once I’m there. There they are, and there I am.  In it.  All.

The edges of one shaping the other.  The hint of one suggesting the other.  Playing off one another. Telling a story.  The light, the shadow.  Me, my subject.  The little picture, the bigger picture.  All working together.  All.

Are you noticing the shadows resting alongside the light?  Tell us about the shadows (and light) you see in your world by leaving a comment below and/or sharing your photos with us #viewfindersio.  We want to hear and see it all…

xMichelle