It's all about the light

We get a lot of dim light up here on the 45^th parallel. Though it’s not so bad in southern Ontario—where I live— we do spend a great part of our year with short daylight hours and a minimal amount of direct sunlight due to cloud cover. As a photographer, I can’t begin to describe how important sunlight is to me. The very word “photography” is Greek for writing with light.

I won’t get into the many details and intricacies of my favourite wave-particle. I will say that having spent decades dealing with light via photography, it has taught me many things, and it has become ever more interesting with every photograph that I make. So, in other words, I’m an aficionado of light, and every now and then I stumble upon a moment when the light is perfect for image taking. A moment when even the most mundane things can turn interesting. Moreover, if I happen to be in right place, then the opportunities for making great photos becomes abundant. This particular series is all about such an ideal and rare moment.

It was a warm and sunny June afternoon in downtown Toronto. The sun was at a perfect angle. It was positioned perfectly so that its rays could bounce off of the many reflective glass panels gilding the clustered high-rises at the center of Toronto. I was there, camera in hand, and ready to seize the moment. Everywhere I looked, surrounding me, were opportunities for potentially great photos. These are the images that I captured. These photos aren’t all great, but I was paying attention to the light. Warm, luminous, glowing light, and the deep shadows that fall away from it.

Appreciating light is the first step to capturing great photos. I have an app on my phone that tells me when the magic hour and blue hour will occur anywhere in the world (technology is amazing).