We all know that light is essential when it comes to photography. It’s how we are able to capture the feeling that we see when we take a picture. Light presents itself in many forms and recognizing those forms is a must. When I saw how the light was coming over the mountains along the river creating a natural spot light between the light on the mountain terrain and that light being reflected in the water, I knew that was something special.
Shooting with the D5 and 70-300 VR, I used the light and the reflections to capture the boats as they moved through that spotlight. The shadows made a perfect frame around the subject so that I didn’t have to do anything in post. While the subject isn’t front lit it still pops out because the eyes naturally go to the lightest spot and that dark spot is in the middle of that spotlight. The light and the reflection of that light can be just as powerful when used to frame around your subject as opposed to be directly on your subject.