This is an incredible time of year for photographic light, and, though I'm not completely sure why the light is so amazing, I do have a theory or two. Whether it was the sweeping, vast, outdoor landscape I saw on a ferry trip across Puget Sound, or a small, luminous scene at home in our kitchen, the light this week had a kind of a glow to it, a radiance.
It didn’t seem to matter much either, whether I made images in black and white, or in color, that special quality of the light was there. Something pretty cool was up, and I felt like I’d better pay attention.
I noticed that there was a spring-like breeze blowing off the Olympic Mountains, clouds were skittering across the sky, and trees were waving back and forth. The clouds and trees took turns, filtering the light, bouncing it around, reflecting it. Things got really freaky then, because the light seemed to be moving, pulsing, even, with a presence like a beating heart, thump-thump-thumping in a science fiction movie. It was a little weird, actually.
But I said I have a theory, and here is what I think is happening: The sun is still fairly low in the sky at this time of year, so there is an angularity to the light. The calendar says the season is still winter, but spring is knocking at the door. The weather forecasters are using words like “unsettled” to describe climactic conditions...one minute we get a little of this, the next we get a little of that, weather-wise, and one senses that there’s a whole-lotta-shakin-goin-on.
I plan to stay tuned.
