Light (Part One)

ight makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography. George Eastman

Light....

...that word pierces my soul. The simple word on a page beckons some sort of respect and causes me to pause. I know with that word comes some sort of truth that I'm going to be really happy to hear.

When I first indicated to dad that I wanted to pick up a camera and learn under him, he started me out with the pure basics--he trained me as if I were shooting a film camera. The first words he told me were these: If you are going to be successful, it is absolutely imperative that you know light--that you know it inside out...that you know how light behaves and that you know how to manipulate it.

I thought--sweet! That's easy enough. I took physics in college and I KNOW LIGHT. I would later find out that knowing light is a constant pursuit--that its something I must keep in mind every time I push my shutter release button. I found this defination of light when I was thinking over doing a blog post:

Light is a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.

Simple enough--yet I am constantly surprised that so many photographers do not know light--so many are putting an "In Business" sign on their door without even knowing the foundation of SIGHT and VISION.

The second best piece of advice dad gave me was this. Do not do photography to make money. That won't happen. Do it to make a difference and do it because you are passionate. Passion and money rarely collide.

Ain't that the truth :)

Stay tuned for part two of this post. We are REALLY excited about using our passion to make a difference and to bring light into one of the darkest areas of the human heart. I think you will be too!

~Lindsey