Photo taken with NIKON E995, f/2.6 @ 8.2 mm, 1/13, ISO 100
I took this picture 8 years ago with the very first digital camera that I had ever laid hands on. It was a Nikon E995. A point-and-shoot. A whopping 3.34 mega pixels. It was my Dad’s camera. I borrowed it for a trip to Kansas City and Nauvoo Il. I think it had a 64MB compact flash card in it. That got me 131 pictures, which I thought was a ton. That was like 5 and a half rolls of film. Prior to this, shooting more than 1 roll of film on a trip would have been considered a huge luxury for me.
As far as photography goes, back then I knew absolutely nothing. It is kind of scary how little I knew. I actually could hardly believe my eyes when I looked at the tiny LCD screen on the camera. The only thing I had going for me was being able to recognize a moment and clicking the shutter button at the right time. A skill that is still very important and serves me well. That was the beginning for me. I recognized that it was a good picture, but I really didn’t understand why it was a good picture. I really had no idea how to repeat that success. From that point, something inside me was driven to seek out more. Later that year, I bought my first SLR camera. It was digital of course. I was mesmerized by the instant feedback. I bought a Nikon D100 with two kit lenses.
Even with a DSLR, I didn’t really understand photography for a long time. I am almost ashamed to admit that it took me several years to figure it out. Here is the biggest thing I didn’t understand: LIGHT. It seems silly to me now, but for a long time there was no real connection between light and photography for me. Understanding light was a missing link. When I discovered it, it was like turning a key on a locked door. Behind that door was a whole world that had eluded me for so long. I longed to shoot pictures like the one above. Light is a funny thing. It is always there. Even when we don’t notice it. We take it for granted. We appreciate it unknowingly. We respect good light subconsciously. We recognize good lighting without knowing it.
So why is this a good picture? What qualities does it have that make it good? Remember it was an accident for me. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time. It is actually quite remarkable that it isn’t blurry. It was taken at 1/13th of a second, hand held. Here are the reasons I think it is a good picture:
- Directional light
It is natural light coming through an open door of a root cellar. No light source on the inside. Only soft diffuse light (cloudy day) pouring in through the doorway. - Shadows and highlights
Notice the shadows that give him depth, dimension, and detail. The shadows bring out detail in his clothes and face. - Catchlights in his eyes
Notice the big highlights in his eyes. Catchlights are so very important. Zack Arias recently said, “if you don’t light the eyes, you have failed as a photographer.” What does he mean? Catchlights of course. They bring the eyes to life. - Expression and pose
The expression and pose are perfect and natural. - Composition
The subject isn’t dead center in the frame. He is slightly to the left. I would actually prefer that he was a little further to the left. - Sharpness
Overall the photo is remarkably sharp for being shot at 1/13th of a second. There is a little bit of blur in his hand, but his eyes (the most important thing to be sharp) and body are sharp.
These are all things that I didn’t understand 8 years ago when I took the photo. Now that I know and understand them, I can re-produce it every time.