Hi and welcome to the November edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Football season is well underway so I thought I would address a football lighting situation that confronts all photographers who are on the sidelines every Saturday and Sunday but is seldom used. I am referring to the “SHAFT OF LIGHT” that cuts across many of the gridirons around the country. I have been scanning in some old NFL images this past month and thought it appropriate to discuss the importance of RECOGNIZING LIGHT. Only if a photographer can recognize light will they be able to use it to their advantage. Let’s see how this works……

Hi and welcome to the November edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Football season is well underway so I thought I would address a football lighting situation that confronts all photographers who are on the sidelines every Saturday and Sunday but is seldom used. I am referring to the “SHAFT OF LIGHT” that cuts across many of the gridirons around the country. I have been scanning in some old NFL images this past month and thought it appropriate to discuss the importance of RECOGNIZING LIGHT. Only if a photographer can recognize light will they be able to use it to their advantage. Let’s see how this works……

Image#1      Light creates the mood. What I mean by this is the way light falls across your subject. The way you position yourself in relationship to the sunlight and players determines the amount of mood or feeling your image will communicate. This is a routine hand-off by John Elway but the Shaft of Light on the field of play is used to my advantage to create drama and a feeling of urgency about the game. Instead of being just another hand-off, this image tells the viewer that the game is on the line and creates a feeling of urgency. My use of the Shaft of Light helps tell the story of the Bronco’s quest for victory.

Image#2      Same situation… the stadium blocks the sun from 90% of the field, I chose to position myself to use Shaft of Light and the black background to tell a story. Peter Read Miller is the master of this. He will RECOGNIZE the lighting situation and position himself to make it work to his advantage to tell the story of that player or that game. It is this kind of thought process that helps separate the average image from the spectacular image.

Image#3      Junior Seau….. He is motionless but the Shaft of Light creates two things….1. Beautiful Light……2. Black Background (and foreground if the shaft is narrow). This lighting situation is creating the mood of the player, the game, or the entire season……perhaps his career. I recognized the lighting situation that the stadium provided, exposed for the highlight and captured a moment….a quiet moment…..a moment of reflection or pride or even sadness….a mood and feeling have been presented to the viewer.

Image#4      Here the shaft of light falls on the stadium and leaves the player in soft silhouette. The mood is soft…mysterious…fall is in the air…the start of the season………….it is just a kickoff, it happens every game several times so try to recognize the light and use it to your advantage.

Image#5      Here is a terrific shaft of light. The exposure of the shaft of light is about 1 stop brighter than the exposure on the player. The stadium lights have begun to illuminate the field. I recognized the lighting situation forming as the sun was going down and positioned myself at the goal line so the kick returner would run away from me up field. The shaft of light now becomes my background. My use of the light creates the feeling of late in the game and a desperate run for daylight. I am trying to write a story with my use of light in relationship to the subject.

The photographer today is often faced with the task of keeping up with TV moments, a.k.a. “highlights”. Some photographers would say they are mere recording devices. I resist this notion and believe we as photographers have much more to offer than a rerun of the highlight reel. The “SHAFT OF LIGHT” situation usually lasts only a few plays were the play is executed in the light. There were games when I would pray for penalties to back up the play so as to keep the line of scrimmage in the shadow so the runningback would cut into the shaft of light one more time. If we can learn to recognize the light, then we can use it to our advantage to tell the story with more than a rerun moment that everyone saw 20 times on the news that evening. There are a hundred photographers all capturing the same moment as you…….how you choose to use the light can help separate your images from the pack.

I hope you enjoyed this edition on recognizing light. See you next month at Workshop at the Ranch…………………Adios, Dave