The Story Behind the Picture: Perfect Light
Yes, it’s easy to tell by my most recent entries that I’m anxious for the arrival of fall. It can’t get here soon enough.
For nature and landscape photography in Ohio there are two seasons that present what I would consider ideal light - autumn and spring. The primary reasons include the lower angle of the sun - not high and direct with harsh hot spots and shadows - and air temperature and humidity levels not too low to be miserable and not too high, to be well, miserable.
Of the two seasons my preference is for fall. It’s been my experience that the sunsets of autumn in Ohio seem to carry this lingering, haunted light that cascades the landscape in a blanket of slight melancholy of golden finality prior to nature’s deep sleep. Fall is the season that speaks most clearly to the artist within me. Autumn is who I am.
The photograph “Barn in Adams County” was taken in late October 2003. Camera used was a Canon EOS 1V film body with a Canon 28-70mm f2.8 L lens and circular polarizer. Film used was my old favorite, Fuji Velvia.
This image was part of a series of fall landscape photographs captured during my first visit to the Murphin Ridge Inn, located smack in the middle of several Amish farms in the rolling hills of Adams County, Ohio. This is a wonderful place to visit to get feel for the full glory of autumn in rural southern Ohio.
The barn, facing southwest, was catching the light of the setting sun, turning the wood and maple tree to a slight shade of gold, accentuating not only the red trim, but most attractive of all, the vintage Coca-Cola sign. This compositional element, combined with the wreath, tells the story of a simpler life during a simpler time.
The key to catching the good light is to be at the right place at the right time. It also helps to understand and know your subject, in this case the Ohio landscape and the unique characteristics of sunset in late October. It’s not as easy as it appears, because like life, light is always moving, always changing, and as a result, changing the subjects that it falls upon.
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