Many photographers don’t fully understand light.

They primarily think of light as “light source” - a way to expose their photos.

But light is so much more than that.

It not only plays a strong role in exposure, but can also affect composition, framing, mood, and the overall structure of our images.

And because it does so much, it can be quite confusing to learn.

It’s not as simple as: use light in this one specific way and you’ve got it.

Rather, because it’s so multifaceted, we have to approach it differently.

So today I’ll share with you why understanding light is difficult for many people.

And then, we’ll go over the photography exercise that will help you understand light.

And finally I’ll wrap it up with one of the most important lessons I learned from doing this exercise.

This exercise I recommend for both beginners and experienced photographers looking to brush up on their basics.

It’s something I took from the “Light” chapter in Photography Essentials, my free course.

I myself, will do this every now and then if I feel like my photos are getting worse.

So, let’s begin.

Do this for 30 days and you’ll finally understand light.

Light Is Confusing

Many years ago I didn’t understand light.

I simply understood it as a way to expose your photos, and there was “good lighting” and “bad lighting”.

But I didn’t realize how many different variables and factors existed.

During this time, I had a lot of questions.

I wondered to myself:

“If color is so important, why do black and white images work?”

“And if images without color can be just as good as images with color, is color actually even necessary?”

This brings up a whole new topic and debate that we’re not gonna get into in this article, but the point is:

There must be some reason why photos without color work.

An underlying structure that holds our photos together, whereas color is just the cherry on top of the cake.

Great to have, but by technical definition, not required or necessary for a good photograph.

Realizing this took my photography to the next level.

Because I understood that to take better photos I needed to understand what this structure was.

And thinking back on it, it makes sense that it has something to do with light, since photography literally means: “drawing with light”.

But this still begs the question:

How do I go about learning light?

It’s still confusing and there’s still a bunch of ways to use it.

So how do I know if I’m learning it or using it right?

After some time experimenting, I realized what the problem was.

The problem was like many problems in life:

If you’re focused on and thinking about many different things, you’re really not focused on anything.

Because focus, by definition, means picking one thing and eliminating the rest.

You can’t “focus” on 5 things at once.

So the reason why I had a hard time understanding light was because I was trying to look at five things at once.

And what I needed to do was cut out all the other stuff so I could see and focus on just light.

By doing so, I’d be able to practice light in a more formal and structured way.

Doing this for a few weeks allowed me to change the way I saw the world.

And my brain and eye began to subconsciously understand light without me even trying.

And then the lessons and learnings I’ve extracted from these experiences I could take and apply to my photography as a whole.

Let’s learn to see light.

A World Without Color

If we want to understand and see light, it’s actually quite simple.

We just need to remove any and everything that is not light.

Meaning, go into your camera settings and change your color profile to a black and white one.

Then, if you can, adjust the tone curve so you pronounce the highlights and shadows.

On Fujifilm cameras, I add a +2 for each.

This adds a bit of contrast and really makes light and shadow stand out so we can see it better.

What we’re doing is filtering out color and other unnecessary elements so our brain can just focus on light and shadow.

From here, go out and take photos every single day for 30 days.

Pay attention to light if you can, but otherwise don’t think about it too much.

Again, we’re training our minds subconsciously, so we’ll learn through experience.

As the days pass, light will start to make sense.

You’ll begin to see and notice light as if you were seeing it through your camera.

More different things will stand out to you, and the world will look black and white.

You’ll start to understand how contrast affects your images and you’ll begin using it to shape and frame your compositions, giving it that structure we talked about earlier.

You’ll also be able to filter out color and unnecessary variables and just focus on light.

And you’ll realize how much easier photography is when you’re not distracted.

Because although color is great, it also adds a bunch of stuff that can confuse us if we’re not careful.

And we know that great photos can be taken in black and white, meaning color isn’t always necessary.

Doing this will improve your compositions almost naturally, without you thinking about it.

And when you do go back to color, you’ll notice how much better your photos have gotten.

They’ll have that sense of structure to them because you’ve learned to be more meticulous when framing and nailing light “right”.

This is the same exercise I used many years ago and still come back to it every now and then.

It’s not only helped me understand light better, but also photography better.

I’d recommend to revisit this every few months or year if you feel like your photos have started to suck, but you can’t quite put a finger on why.

This is important since it takes us more than one time to learn things, right?

If we could learn things on the very first go and keep replicating it, we’d be super human.

So chances are you forgot a few things about light and shadow and you just need a recap.

Light is an Opportunity

When doing this exercise you’ll learn many things about light.

I’m not going to cover all of them, but I’ll share with you one of the more important lessons I’ve learned.

It’s one of those things that have stuck and come back to haunt me every now and then.

Light is an opportunity.

Light is not something we have to hunt for.

Light is not something we control or manipulate to create the shot we want.

And light will never be what we want it to be.

Of course if you’re a studio or product photographer - whatever.

That’s not what we’re talking about here.

Street, everyday, travel, landscape, candid photography.

In these situations we can’t control the sun.

We can’t control the angle of the light.

We can’t control how strong it is.

We can only use light in the way that it already is.

And often times this means learning to recognize what lighting conditions we’re in, and what kind of photos we can take in this situation.

That’s been one of my biggest lessons when learning light.

And that’s what I mean when I say:

Light is an opportunity to make use of, not something to manipulate.

So whatever the lighting condition is, at any given time, during any given day, just make use of it.

And when the light is right to create or recreate a certain specific shot you’ve been thinking about, take the opportunity.

Understanding this has leveled up my photography such that I can work with whatever light there is and not fight against it.

So what if it’s harsh sunny midday, and not crisp colorful golden hour?

I’ll just take a harsh sunny midday photo then.

So what if it’s dark outside and there’s no sun to light my subjects?

I’ll walk around, find areas of light, and just take a dark street photo.

Does that make sense?

Because we don’t control it, we must work with it, not against it.

As you learn and understand light better you’ll be able to delineate between what shots you can go for and can’t go for based on the time and day.

And it first begins with learning how to see light.

So a quick recap if you’re feeling confused:

Light in photography is important because it does a lot of stuff.

The problem is, most people don’t understand light beyond exposure because it’s confusing.

So to learn the compositions, framings, etc of light, we need to cut off these confusing variables.

This means shooting only in black and white, with pronounced highlights and shadows, so we can see it better.

Doing this will train our eye and mind to see light, without all the other stuff.

In this process you’ll learn many things.

One such lesson I’ve learned is to view light as an opportunity to make use of, not something to manipulate.

What you learn may be different, but I can almost guarantee, if you do this for 30 days, you’ll finally start to understand light.

So, I hope you found this useful or helpful.

If you did, share this with a friend - you guys can do this photography exercise together.

Again, if you wanna learn more go to Photography Essentials.

There’s a bunch of similar exercises that will help you learn the different aspects of photography.

Did I mention it’s free?

If you wanna help support what I do here, you can add to the travel fund or pick up a copy of my zine “The Sinking Sun”.

Thanks a ton, see you in the next one.