International Judging and Scoring Systems in Photography – Part 13 – “Lighting”

6. On Lighting…

Lighting is a subject upon which numerous tomes have been written and I will try to expand upon it here. Suffice it to say that as an International Judge and Juror, you are expected to be what could best be described as a “Master of Light”.

So, where should we look to gain inspiration and instruction on photographic lighting? Photography exhibitions and awards? Books? Magazine articles? How about the internet and, dare I say it? YouTube! How about an art gallery for a start! To learn the art of lighting, for it is most definitely an art based upon aesthetics and how we ‘beautify’ our subjects then surely our inspirations should be those true ‘Masters of Light’, the Renaissance artists. Who could fail to be awestruck at the use of single directional lights in the ‘Tenebrist’ works of Caravaggio or the pure ‘Chiaroscuro’ mastery of Raphael and more latterly and familiarly, Rembrandt?

Our world is rich in art history and a visit to London’s National Gallery or the Uffizi in Firenze, or even the majesty of the Louvre in Paris would be an invaluable investment on your journey of discovery. Recently I had the incredible pleasure of walking a talented photographer through the Renaissance and Baroque collections in the National Gallery in London and delighted in pointing out the use of directional light on top of a perfect lesson in subject posing and composition that you will not learn from any photographic source material! My advice? Learn to see and absorb and not just to look and walk on by.

For those of you that may be interested I will be arranging a few ‘walk through’s’ in London and possibly elsewhere in Europe for those who wish to truly become “Masters of Light’. These will be combined with a session to learn to ‘Shoot like a Renaissance Master’. Please contact me if you’re interested. Availability will be strictly limited.