This week Patti invites us to explore light and shadow in our photography (Lens Artist Challenge #198).

When you research the history of photography (Wikipedia: History of photography) it’s quite clear you can’t have an image absent of both light and shadow. Light highlights the objects and their elements. Whereas shadows bring contrast and definition.

Mother Nature reigns when it comes to creating light and shadows. I’ll even take it another step forward and add color to the mix as well. Take for instance these shots I took from a blood moon eclipse event a few years ago. Science tells us the moon shines as a result the sun reflecting off the side of the moon visible to us. In the photos below you see how the light shows us the details of the craters and as the moon rotated around the earth shadows formed until the moon was covered in darkness. As the eclipse progressed through the night sky, the shadows disappeared reveling the moon again, but it had turned red.

It was pretty spectacular to watch this event occur, although it was pretty cold that night!

How about a storm rolling in at sunset? This image faces South, so the sun was setting to the right of the frame, reflecting in the glass building. But notice what happens to the rain cloud as your eye moves right to left away from the building. Because of the setting sun the clouds/sky change from a pinkish/blueish rain shower to a somewhat clear, blue sky over the city. This was a pretty fascinating storm to watch.

Who can resist watching a thunderstorm? We were sitting on our balcony one night and I must have taken over a hundred photos to get this shot. I love how the electricity in the air is so full of light that it transforms the dark sky into a pinkish/purple hue while giving way to the outline of the storm cloud. Doesn’t the lightning strike look like a giant spider next to the city skyline?

Then there’s a rainbow just after the rain when the sun along with the atmosphere creates a prism of color. Not only does the sun create the rainbow, but it colorizes the remaining clouds and skyline below.

Thank you, Patti for this wonderful challenge. I’ve enjoyed seeing everyone’s collection of amazing photography and interpretation while revisiting my own experiences with light and shadows through nature. I’m looking forward to seeing what Ann-Christine has in store for us next week.

Until next time!

~donna

P.S. If you would like to participate in our weekly Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us on Saturdays at noon EST: Lens-Artist Challenge

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