_DJ61603-fb copy In the beginning was nothing, not even a spark of light for photographers to point lenses at. What on earth did they do? Spend more time in the darkroom, fumbling around with primordial chemicals and coming up with arcane theories about what light would be like if they could only see it? Things like zone theory and the inverse law, for example. In their spare time they codified everything and often made a grand mess of it. Some of them got so good at it they left to create the IRS, insurance companies, and Applesoft. But that's another story.

So let's start over.

In the beginning was nothing. The Lightmaker said "let there be light... and it was good."

Close enough. We can work with this abridged version.

Note that our Lightmaker made no mention of bad or mediocre light - it was all good. Previously, Darkness had the run of the place since before time was invented, so imagine the shock and awe that light must have caused with her sweet entrance onto the Great Dance Floor.

One swoosh and a swirl and paparazzi were instantly legion.

But let's back up yet again. In our photographic mythology, light requires a source, so the Lightmaker created an orb, a sphere which emits electromagnetic radiation, some of which we call light. Let's call it Orb A. Or as we know it, the sun.

But light is useless without a receptor - someone or some thing to receive and appreciate its existence. Darkness wasn't about to stand up and applaud, being so rudely upstaged, so some other mechanism was required. The Lightmaker solved this dilemma by creating Orb B, the eyeball.

Now isn't that interesting - two orbs, the simplest shapes to exist. One orb to transmit, the other orb to receive, each requiring the other, and the result is constant astonishment.

O~O

At any rate, we now have a handy, simple equation.

oA + oB = astonishment

The astonishing part for me is basic - neither light nor eyeballs have any function on their own; each requires the other. But put them together and... wow. Fireworks.

Oh yeah, we were going to make this practical, weren't we? Here's how.

Let's start with the Orb we all know so well - the sun. And let's use our B orbs to register Orb A's emitted light, whether it's incident or reflected. Then, knowing that we are part of the primal creative equation, start making decisions about how to make light behave. This orb-to-orb transfer business gives us enormous creative power, once we get cameras in our hands. 

For this assignment, stay as simple as possible and dispel any notion of good or bad light. If light has no such inherent qualities, it's our own psychology that's providing them. Photograph light and its effects, but do so with a bright mind and a brilliant heart, as naturally as possible. If the light's "bad" figure out how to make it "good." The creative response and process is 100% internal. It's sort of like putting on glasses backwards, or standing on one's head, but understanding that light is as much internal as it is external can be the juice that turns a snapshot into a photograph.

If this allegory doesn't work for you, go back to your own roots. In the beginning was nothing. What happened next? 

2017 is a good year to explore light and its myriad secrets. It will be a fun ride. Today we start at the beginning. Again.

Ideas for BEGIN AGAIN:

• Go out on a sunny day and find a subject to photograph, preferably a vegetable or mineral - something that won't move suddenly or talk back when you poke it with a stick. Photograph it without thinking. Then study it, look at the angle at which light strikes it. Locate and trace the shadow. Carefully photograph it again from many angles. The light hasn't changed, but each movement you make changes history (photographically speaking).
• Go out on a cloudy day and repeat the exercise. What's changed? There's little or no shadow, for one. Photograph from many angles again. Compare these photos to your first set. Do they "feel" different? Where does that feeling come from?
• Shoot the same subject at dawn, noon, and dusk. We already know the shadow will move, but something else is happening too. Do you know what it is, Mr. Jones?
• Shoot before sunup and after sundown. There is still sufficient light but not from the sun. Where is it coming from? What is its quality? Why are we so mysteriously drawn to it? What does it say about us?
• Isolate your subject by using only a spot of light. Shade everything else. Does it like being in the spotlight? Do you?
• Shoot the sun directly (but be careful). Why is it so hard to get a good exposure? 
• Instead of selecting a subject to photograph, select a variety of emotions to direct your inquiry. How does it affect what you visually frame in your viewfinder?
   

BEGIN AGAIN will run for two weeks, from Jan 2 through Jan 15.

Happy shooting!