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| Linda Lorenzo - Ilford FP-4 Mamiya RB-67 Pro-SD 140mm lens |
For too many years my photography has depended on what I
consider to be good lighting. I believe that rarely will God’s light be the
light I want so I play a minor god and produce my own photographs with my own
lights.
This means that rarely do I resort or use the light that
is there (in photography we call it available light). This means and meant that
my cameras, be they the 35mm ones, the medium format ones or with my present
digital Fuji X-E1 I will mate them to a chord that connects to my good studio
flash units.
For many years (not too many, alas!), I had God’s light
coming in from the windows of my Robson Street studio (corner with Granville).
Across the street was Eaton’s and later Sears. The whole block was one huge
white wall with almost no windows. In the afternoon the light came into my
studio. I must confess that I would block the light with curtains in order to
use my own lights.
What you see here is a photograph I took of the lovely
Linda Lorenzo with just the light coming from the window. My rules of pleasant
portrait lighting do not apply here. I believe that there are shadows and
highlights that art too here and there. An yet I have to agree with myself that
I like this portrait lots.
The fear I sometimes have with the ease of use of my
digital Fuji X-E1 is that I may be depending too much on God’s light and not
enough on my own. It is so simple to pick the camera up and start shooting
untethered.