Mood Photography
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What is my style of photography?
Photographers often ponder questions like what type of photographer they are, what genres do they shoot, or what is their style and while these are logical and interesting questions, they are not ones that I’ve spent a lot of time agonizing over. I have rather let my preferences lead the way and over time I have found the types of images that I enjoy making as well as the feel or emotion that an image conveys during the editing process. I find that this gives me a lot more flexibility rather than pigeonholing me into only taking certain types and styles of photos. In addition, as I’ve learned more and the available tools have changed - there has been an evolution to the way my images look.
Interestingly enough, over time I have naturally gravitated to nature, wildlife and in particular bird photography, however that doesn’t mean that I won’t take a macro, abstract or portrait image. I feel like that would be akin to saying I can never eat a certain food again because it doesn’t fit with what I’ve labeled my preferences to be. I like the freedom to explore and experiment and change my mind!
Frost covered plant in the early morning light. (EXIF data 105mm, ISO800, 1/4000s, +0.67EV, f4.5)
I have also noticed that while I will edit an image based upon the mood and lighting that was captured, I also have a strong preference for bold and rich colours with simple lines and even a bit dark and moody at times. This really does mimic my preference for choices of clothes colours and decorating tones.
When I asked for feedback about the blog and if there were any things that people would like to see more of or have me delve into - Paula suggested that it would be nice if I occasionally included more techie photography info into blog posts and ironically I had been thinking about doing something like that for a while, so here goes.
My thought process and workflow for creating moody images with a rich colour palette.
I have spent a lot of time over the past few years really focusing on creating images that reflect me - reflect my feelings and experience when I lift my camera to my eye. Several of my photography mentors have said that by the very nature of the choices that you make - your images are a reflection of you - you are incorporated into each and every image. I’m not sure if I find that inspiring or revealing and just scary - one of the reasons I like photography is that I can be more of an observer and less of the centre of attention. I like being behind the camera and not in front of the lens. I suppose that comes with my introverted tendencies.
Having said that, introversion doesn’t mean that I feel things less or have more muted emotions - I think it is more about how I express those emotions and one of the things that I love about photography is how I get to capture those emotions and feelings in the way I compose, create and edit images.
I really like playing with different types of light and the more extreme it is the better I seem to like it. Perhaps this is because birds and wildlife are more active at the ends of the day.
I especially like moody lighting and when I see a composition unfold in front of me that is best expressed with dramatic exposures and editing - I’m all over it. I will often shoot in hard or low light conditions to create this type of image - what does that mean? Well I look for large contrast between the light and shadows - this can be at the edge of a bright sunlit patch where there are deep shadows, or it can also be where there is great low angle light at the edges of the day.
Exposed for the scene outside (don’t mind my dirty windows!) - the sheep Hamish is in shadows. (iPhone photo)
(warning: techie bit coming up) Cameras do not have the same level of dynamic range as our eyes. The human eye can see between 18 - 20 stops of light compared to a camera which can see at best 12 - 14 stops of light. What the heck does that mean?
Dynamic range is the spread between the brightest and darkest parts of a scene or image - it’s a measurement of contrast.
The human eye is an amazing piece of technology in that it can adjust to view almost double the light range that a camera can - when the dynamic range of a camera is exceeded it means that either the bright areas will be blown out (or details in the bright areas will be lost) or the dark areas will have no details (be in shadow).
Think about what happens when you point a camera towards someone standing in front of a window on a sunny day.
Exposed for Hamish - the scene outside is “blown out” or overly bright and lacking details. (iPhone photo)
You either get a dark shadowy person standing in front of the window with some details of what is outside the window, or you get a clear image of the person (properly lit up) and the sky outside the window is white with no details. (A good tip is not to take family portraits with a window directly behind people - place them 90 degrees to the window to get some nice side light on them - that’s another post!).
This means that when taking an image there is a compromise to be made when there is a large contrast between the brightest and darkest parts of the scene. When I take images with bright areas and dark areas - I am taking advantage of this fact and purposely exposing the image for the bright area and thus throwing the darker areas into more shadow (or turning them black).
The scene exposed for the shadowed areas means that Roxy’s face and blanket are washed out (no detail as it’s too bright for the camera to capture). (EXIF data 85mm, ISO125, 1.250s, f2.5)
Here’s an example to try and make it a bit clearer - let’s take my favourite subject (Roxy - my cat) who loves a good spot of sunlight.
When she lays in a bright patch of sun which is on the edge of a shadowed area this creates a scene with high dynamic range (more than what the camera is able to capture) so if I expose properly for Roxy the surrounding shadowed area will be underexposed and dark with no details in the shadows. If I expose so that there is detail in the shadowed areas - the image of Roxy above shows what the camera captures. Some areas of moderate shadow which still show details and some areas of overexposure on her face (no detail).
Same image exposed for the bright part of the scene - the background goes dark as it is underexposed. (EXIF data shown on the side panel)
When I expose for the brightest part of the image the surrounding area goes into shadow as it is underexposed relative to the first image. There is no detail in the shadows, but now details in Roxy’s face are clear.
Despite this image being taken during bright daylight - it looks like very dramatic lighting due to the way I’ve exposed the image.
I feel that this creates more of a moody image and reflects the emotions and feelings that I’m trying to express about Roxy basking in the morning sunlight.
Final edited image with bright areas removed and the image slightly cropped to show off the main subject. (EXIF Data 85mm, ISO125, 1/4000s, f2.5)
I then do some editing to crop in on Roxy and darken the areas that are still too light and in my opinion distracting from the main part of the image.
I do this in Lightroom and Photoshop - basically placing a mask (using a linear gradient or a brush tool) over the bright area and dropping the highlights for that area (moving the slider to the left).
If this doesn’t provide the result I am looking for I work on removing the bright area completely by using the clone tool.
I clone out the area by copying a dark area from a similar part of the shadows and moving it over the bright area. I end up with an image that is an interpretation of what I can make the camera “see” by taking advantage of the limitations of dynamic range of the camera.
The final edited image is a much more dramatic image and there is no question who is the subject. I think it creates a mood of blissful solitude as Roxy catnaps in the morning sunbeams.
Following the energy flow
When I was in New Brunswick this past summer on a photography retreat with Freeman Patterson (see this blog post) one of the key pieces of advice he offered was when you find something that captures your interest - follow the energy. I took this to heart and found that I was captivated by the idea of all the behind the scenes pollinators busy keeping the Kingsbrae Gardens alive and vibrant.
Bees arriving at the hostas for their morning sips of nectar. While pleasing, this angle had a lot of background distractions, so I looked for areas of more light contrast with deeper shadows. (EXIF Data 120mm, ISO1000, 1/200s, f4)
My favourite time of day was the early morning just after sunrise when the gardens were devoid of visitors and just waking up as the sun filtered through the foliage. I was entranced by the quality of the light and the sounds of buzzing from the bees as they flitted from flower to flower. I quickly noticed that their focus was not random - they would start first thing on the hostas and then move on to more colourful blossoms.
I spent time in the garden watching this flow of pollinators moving from blossom to blossom and as I contemplated their movements I really slowed down and took in the sights and scents and sounds. It is amazing what you can pick up when you slow down and get really quiet. I brought along a small notebook and I started writing about my experience. Really capturing the feeling of being in the gardens in the early morning - the slight damp chill in the air as the sun started to heat up the air.
Changing position allowed me to get the perfect exposure to highlight the bees and hostas while throwing everything else into darkness. (EXIF Data 120mm, ISO640, 1/200s, f4)
The sound of the bees buzzing - it felt like they were all around me and coming from every direction. The slightly sweet scent of blossoms in the air. I quickly felt like I was becoming part of the gardens and I started to really see what I wanted to capture.
Following the energy flow and my love of dramatic lighting - I made a decision to shoot into the sun and create a series of backlit scenes with the bees and flowers playing the lead role. All else was going to be in shadow as they were not the stars.
With this approach in mind I started positioning myself to take advantage of the low angle sun and the shadowy light around the hostas. It was challenging to follow the flight pattern of the bees and they would often not land on the blossoms I was hoping they would, but with a lot of patience and perseverance (I did this for 3 mornings) - I ended up with some images that I’m really proud of.
The image above in particular highlights the hostas and the bee with rim lighting (bright areas of light around the edges of the subject) and there is intentional motion blur of the bee’s wings because of my choice of shutter speed - i.e., too slow to freeze the motion.
Creating Particular Mood or Emotions in Images
For me the process starts within myself - I have to be in the mood to create something that mirrors my emotional response. Just seeing something and thinking isn’t that beautiful or I want to get a photo of that is not enough and usually results in a documentary type of image - it could be really nice, but it doesn’t evoke an emotional response from me when I view it later.
The next step is for me to start to think through what I’m feeling - what mood does the scene create for me. As you might be thinking - this doesn’t usually happen in a split second, so these are not the sort of images created when something fast happens - this is usually from subjects that I have been studying or spending a lot of time with. Spending the time thinking this through really helps me to make technical decisions about exposure and position for angle of light and even all of the compositional decisions that go into capturing that vision. While this might sound like it takes the awe and wonder out of the process - in fact it doesn’t - it enhances the experience for me as I become immersed in the scene and I believe that I start to bring more of me to the image.
The way I make the image enables me to edit in a way that produces something aligned with what I envisioned in my head, so for me the idea of “getting it right in camera” and not editing or doing very little editing doesn’t make sense. I use all of the tools in my toolbox - both in camera and in editing to create the images I imagine.
I recognize that this blog post may not be for everyone as it is a bit more technical than others I’ve done - I’d appreciate getting your feedback on this. Was this of interest to you (whether you’re a photographer or not)? Are there any things you’d like me to explain more fully or less detailed? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or get in touch with me directly by clicking on the Connect With Me button.
Backlight on a piece of marsh grass coated with early morning frost. I like the magical quality of the light in this image and it reminds me of the solitary moments I shared with the rising sun. (EXIF Data +0.67EV, 105mm, ISO800, 1/640s, f5.6)
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
