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One of the hardest things about photography is making that crucial decision that this is the place you definitely want to shoot. The difficulty of it is probably the reason that so many photographers gravitate toward studio work — it takes a lot of that stress away. With studio work, you’re always facing forward and everything can adjust to you. It’s a whole different beast finding a great angle and a well-lit shot out in the big wide scary world with a few billion options on every street corner. To me, navigating the real world and finding a spot to shoot in is a far greater photography skill set than learning studio lighting or even camera settings — and far less discussed. Even with a great location scout, it’s still on the photographer to figure out the right angle, composition and light.
So, for this little journey, I’m going to discuss the five ways I’ve learned to recognize a great scene when I come across it. Or to find it in just about any scenario. Later I’m going to cover how to make a great scene from a not-so-great spot — but for now, here’s how you know you’ve found yourself a great place to shoot:
You See Light Reflected Into A Shadow
It might surprise you to learn that this photo on the left was taken with no external flash. This was all natural light. It’s an extreme version of a technique that happens all over, but most non-photographers never notice it — with light being reflected from a different surface into a shadow.
This photograph is a great way to illustrate the phenomenon because you can see the environment and how light is bouncing around and creating very different light scenarios within that one little area.
First, you can see the darker shadow behind the subject, this is because the sun is behind me and to the left of this scene. The large wall on the left is blocking it, creating that shadowy area.
But look underneath the subject and you can see how there’s a wedge of light on the ground. That is light being reflected from the…
