Electric Rant

      Directional light is what I'm addicted to. Although I'm up hard on a pack of Marlboros a day, directional light is my natural high. Bright sunlight that hugs the horizon that makes those clean, crisp shadows and offers that perfect contrast. Colors come alive and black and white tones become as rich as chocolate mousse. It's something that either makes my day or completely ruins it.

    The most essential thing to a photograph is light. If we break down the word photograph, it comes from the Greek, photo which means light and graph which means to draw. Drawing with light is what photography really is. Although I'm a decent artist when it comes to charcoal and paper, light is definitely one of those artists that you read about in a magazine. One of those artists that gets really famous before they die. Kind of like Banksy, Light is everywhere you look.

     Light is also one of those things we just can't understand. Even science has no idea what it's made of and why it exists it just does. Pretty much everything has a purpose in life but light is one of those strange things that just exists. It exists in almost every corner of the universe minus the occasional black hole. We can bend light, split it into a visible spectrum, capture it and even tell how fast it moves. Light is a physical representation of magic except no one has figured out how it works yet. Like if no one ever found out how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear. Even though a quick Google search told me exactly how to make the monument disappear, I don't think anyone could have done it like David Copperfield.

The thing that really makes photos "work" is very strong directional light or strong light in general. So to all of you fauxtographers, get on your job. Find some serious light and don't stop shooting. Let me make myself perfectly clear. DON'T STOP SHOOTING. The worst thing you can do is walk away from something beautiful because you get frustrated. Photography is an enriching experience but only if you let it enrich you and your soul.

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