How do you capture that fabulous light when photographing nature?
With a sprinkling of magic!
There are five types of natural light, as far as wildlife photographers are concerned: front light, side light, back light, diffused sunlight and… Magic Light. The first four are pretty much self explanatory. Magic Light is a little bit harder to pin down but if you manage to capture it on camera, always worth the wait.
It’s also known as ‘God’s light’, which seems fitting when you notice the way the light seems to ‘fall’ on your subject, as if sent directly from the heavens, surrounding them in a glowing halo. But if we’re accepting that The Big Man has more important stuff to do than giving our photographs a lovely finish, where does it come from?
Magic Light tends to occur at times of change, being most in evidence at the change of seasons, as well as as dusk turns to night or sunrise into morning. It’s also more obvious as the weather changes, so just after it has rained or when there is interplay between the sun and the clouds. It’s impossible to pin down exactly what Magic Light is but what it looks like is, well, like magic… as if someone is shining a torch down through the clouds onto the landscape below. Rather than a light which illuminates its subject in various ways, Magic Light can often be the subject of a picture itself.
Do not make the mistake of muddling Magic Light with the ‘Magic Hour’. The Magic Hour refers to the hour after sunset and the hour before sunrise when photography takes on the warm colours of the sun. And Magic Hour itself is not to be confused with the Golden Hour, which occurs the hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise. If you take a few pictures around these times, you’ll see that Magic Hour photos have more bluey pink tone and Golden Hour photos have more golden yellow about them. As we say, it’s difficult to pin down, but so worth taking the time to get to know these variously tinted lights a little better so that you can use them in your photography, whether you’re a semi-pro or simply snapping pictures on your phone.
At the change of seasons, wander outside with your camera in the mornings and evenings, maybe during the Magic Hour, even, and see if you can capture a little of the magic for yourself.
The photograph above was taken by Finn Beales in the Redwood National and State Parks, California. It’s just one of the photographs featured in our Gallery this month, which we’ve called ‘To Dramatic Effect’. The picture is taken from Let’s Get Lost: The World’s Most Stunning Remote Locations curated by Finn Beales (White Lion Publishing). The March issue is in shops now or you can buy from our online store.
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