Are shadows really there?

 Shadows are an example of something visual that our conscious mind normally ignores. Most often folk don't really see them or at least can't recall them.

Yet they can be wonderful aids to getting interesting compositions or even telling an intersting story.  Also on a sunny day they can help get the best exposure (even without a light meter)

So remember "Whats in the Shadows

A Shadow Selfie

Shadow on the sand at low tide

Using your Shadow as a “free” Light Meter

I was sure I had written about this before, but can not find the post at the moment. However I “discovered” this handy trick a long time ago. If you have a digital camera or camera phone and can see what you last photographed and it's a sunny enough day that you cast a shadow, you have a “free” Light meter. I know your camera probably already has a good one built-in, that seldom fails, but it is a nice way to check it is not being fooled by the light or malfunctioning. Alternatively, you might just prefer to shot in Manual.
  
Just turn you back to the sun and point your camera down at your shadow. it helps if there is some texture on the ground both in and outside the shadow. Take a picture and look at the texture. If the texture in the shadow is really hard to decipher you’ve underexposed. If The texture inside the shadow is fine but the part out in the sun is bleached out and hard to decipher your overexposed. When the detail can easily be seen in both the shadows area and sun-lit areas you will have the correct exposure and  anything you photograph in the foreground of a photo will be well exposed. Providing you are not looking straight into the sun or have your camera angled up above the horizon (ie you have mostly sky)
So what to do?

Underexposed (left hand photo) needs more light on your subject so you could use the aperture ring (if you have one) to add one extra stop of light. This will double the light being sent to the sensor. The traditional f-stops are however not linear (for example f11 to f8 is considered one stop). Alternatively you can use The EV (Exposure Value) setting that most digital cameras and even smart phone camera apps now include. These normally are indicated by a small square with a diagonal split and + and – against dark and light shades. In the case of the underexposed you want to add to the EV value either select +1 EV or move the EV slider to the right (a higher positive value). The final option is you can change the shutter speed, let it stay open for longer. This is a bit easier to remember since changing from a speed of 1/120th second to 1/60th will double the light reaching the sensor during the exposure.
Overexposed (right hand photo) is just the reverse you need less light during the exposure, Shutting down the aperture (moving to a higher f-stop number) or using a negative Ev (eg –1 EV) or taking a faster shutter speed.

On a sunny day the reflections on a LCD screen can make it very hard to read, for example judging colour and tone. So this is why it is a good idea to include some strong texture. Even though there may be a strong reflection on the screen you should be able to still make out the relative texture in the shadow or sunny parts of your image.

In the Surrealist Shadow

Paying homage to the surrealists seems logical on the 112th anniversary of Salvador Dali’s Birthday. Shadows and dreams are common motives so making a composite of my shadow superimposed on an unoccupied bed seemed to fit. 
 
I used my phone and HDR Camera+ for the unoccupied bed (the dreamer is “away”) and a silhouette portrait taken of my shadow on the ground (again the body is not shown). I used OnOne layers and the soft light blend mode to combine them, nothing trickier than that.

Are we really Shadowless?

Today I visited a new exhibition at mga on Australian Exotica, which presents the views some contemporary Australian photographers that is a different and erotic place. On the way back to the car park I walked the path on the right below and loved the shadows. However compare that with the photo of typical open forest (below left) I had taken earlier a short distance away. Different style of shadows but not really exotica.

 

“The trees  [in NSW] nearly all belong to one family, and mostly have their leaves placed in a vertical, instead of as in Europe, in a nearly horizontal position: the foliage is scanty, and of a peculiar pale green tint, without any gloss. Hence the woods appear light and shadowless: this, although a loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorching rays of summer…”

…Charles Darwin (notes on trip from Sydney to Bathurst 1836, From Chapter 19, The Voyage of the Beagle)

Semi-Abstract Collage

Semi abstract patterns of reflections on the water surface whilst looking at my shadow below the pier  Created in Picasa's collage tool