Things to Look Out for When Using Light and Shadow in a Landscape Photo

Taking landscape photos is a wonderful way of spending time. Enjoying the view and the play of light and shadow is inspiring. If you can capture that moment in the best possible way, it becomes even more fun. But watch out where you place the light in the frame.

Light is one of the most important things in photography. After all, photography is often mentioned as writing with light. That's exactly how I like to look at it. There is darkness and as a photographer, I try to place the available light into the frame.

This is how I set up the lights for my model photography. This also works in other types of photography, like landscape photography. Use the dark parts of the landscape that surrounds you as the basis. And see where the light illuminates certain parts of that landscape. As said, it's like writing with the light.

If I look at it from the opposite perspective, by looking at the light and placing the shadows, I find the light to be predominant. It becomes difficult to see the shadows. On top of that, it's more tempting to lift the shadows instead of using them in the composition. The two photos below show exactly what I mean by that. 

This starting position reminds me of how the idea of the rule of thirds originated. Before it was called that, a certain Sir Joshua Reynolds stated that a good composition would have a light part and a dark part, where the ratio between light and dark should be 1:3 in the ideal situation. I wrote an article about the origin of the rule of thirds if you're interested.

I won’t dare to say that this ratio should be used in any situation, but I believe there is some truth in how valid this assertion is. Unfortunately, the assertion has mutated into the idea everything in a photo should have that specific ratio. Hence, the rule of thirds. But that’s beside the point.

What I learned from this bit of history is the need for a good balance between light and dark in a photo. I try to avoid lifting the shadows too much or bringing the highlight down too much. After all, this often results in a flat-looking image with no direction of attention.

By adding light in the darkness, you can add direction and thus a point of interest. Our eyes are always attracted to light, it's the first thing that you will see. Put the subject in the landscape into a patch of light, and it will get the much sought-after attention.

The benefit of using light in a photo is the ability to hide less interesting things in the darkness. Even if the darkest parts are still full of detail. This way you will be able to photograph a very cluttered landscape without it being too distracted. The clutter is still present, and it will give a good impression of the reality, but it won’t attract too much attention.

Now I think of it, perhaps that’s the reason why Sir Reynolds mentioned two-thirds dark and one-third light. As a matter of fact, you can also take the contrast between dark and light to extremes. In that case, it’s called Clair-obscure, something you probably heard of before.

If you take this piece of information about light and dark in a landscape photo seriously, there is one thing you must keep in mind when making a composition. Don’t look at shadows in a light scenery. Think of an image as being dark with light in it. Look at the location of the light, instead of the location of shadows. Where does the light is coming from and where is it going? What parts are illuminated, and what parts aren’t?

You will notice how the eye will follow the light and end up in a certain location within the frame. This is the point of interest, the place where the subject should be positioned in the composition, if possible.

Have you found that spot, look carefully at the surroundings. Especially the edges of the frame because that’s the place where the most problems occur. Often you look at things that are not completely inside the frame. Or you look at things that are sticking from the edges into the frame. Branches, or mountain slopes, or perhaps a farm building. But have you ever thought about light as a distracting element?

As mentioned, our eyes tend to look at the lightest parts inside a photo. That’s where the attention is drawn too. But if there are similar patches of light near the edge of the frame, our eyes will start to wander toward it. It's just a matter of time before your eyes will jump back and forth from the real point of attention to the distracting part. This will bring a lot of discomfort, even agitation. In the end, the disturbing patches of light will be the only thing you’ll notice.

That’s why you need to keep an eye on the position of light in a frame. Is it in the right spot, and even more important, isn’t there another light spot that is asking for a similar amount of attention? If so, try to remove it from the frame.

The best thing to do is to check the composition whilst photographing on location. If you can make an adjustment at that moment, this will be the best solution. If that's not possible, try to remove it using a crop in post. Another option is the use of a strong vignette, or you can use the clone brush tools to remove it completely. You can even use tools like generative fill, for that matter. I wrote an article about the possibilities of that amazing tool.

So, next time you are in the field, photographing a beautiful landscape with amazing light, try to look where the light is flowing through the frame. Avoid light patches at the edge of the frame, and you will grab the attention of the viewer more easily.

This technique is not limited to landscapes, of course. It can be used for every type of photography. Are you aware of the significance of light in such a way? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.