Soft Light Please

Late afternoon at the very edge of the Upper Mustang. On the edge of Kagbeni in the Nepalese Annapurnas is a small chorten marking the way forward. The valley sweeps wide at this point, with a broad and flat moraine below filled with boulders, rocks and gravel left behind by long ago glaciers. Mustang horses and goat herders cross the moraine, using temporary wooden bridges to make passage across diverging streams of the river.

The sun has gone behind a mountain, one of many massive peaks in this part of Nepal. The valley is shaded, but a little of the sky is still illuminated as a dab of sunlight reaches over the mountain and through low clouds. The light is very soft. With the help of a graduated ND filter I can bring the clouds into the same exposure range as the shaded valley, and I snap a few variations to capture to silvery tones.



FIRST LIGHT

First light in the mornings is also soft. The sun is still cutting through a few thousand miles of atmosphere and hence is not at its brightest. This means that shadows in the composition are relatively soft shadows, gentle and embracing instead of harsh and cutting. Under the noon-day sun the shadows are devastating for composition, but in that first hour of light the shadows are more forgiving.

This is the charm of soft light, allowing you to emphasise the scene with long shadows but still kind enough to stay within a stop of light.

In most locations around the world, by 9am the light is not usually so soft. Very early in the morning you can even shot portraits using direct sunlight and yield acceptable results - with the help of some softening processing of a RAW file.


FLUSH COLOURS

Colours are a little muted in soft light, another attribute that appeals to me greatly. Too much of modern photography, on film or digital, has resulted in hyper-saturated tones that exaggerate reality and ultimately produces images that stand removed from reality. Muted tones from soft-light restores a gentle quality to your photographic expression, a sense of restraint and a more genuine representation.

If you can work in the range of muted tones more often it gives your work the impression of confidence, that you are happy with your work and don't need to resort to cheap theatrics by dragging your colour saturations to the right.

I might be a little at odds with dedicated landscape photographers here too. I know some talented chaps who do amazing things with film and seek to saturate their tones at sunset as much as possible. They underexpose the film and over-saturate the prints to get the maximum colour. But to what end? When is the colour enough colour? Sometimes less is more, even where landscapes are concerned.


PRETTY PEOPLE

I've always advocated that you should treat your portraits as you do your photos, and try to put them in the best light. Soft filtered light dimly creeping in through a window or a doorway is one of my favourites. It often requires working at a higher ISO to get a clear shot, but that should never be an obstacle to your composition. Our lovely modern digital SLRs are very capable, and ever more so when shooting RAW.

I love shooting people on a cloudy day, a dim doorway or sitting in the shade of a tree while the sun blazes away nearby. I don't mind blowing out the background a little and letting the subject stand firm in the foreground. Where the light is soft the composition is kind.


GRADUALLY INCLINED

Sometimes the dark and heavy light of dusk with clouds riding high above is very soft and potentially very flat. Enter the Graduated ND filter. These cheap and easy to pack but of gear has been featured on the website before, no need for elaborate filter holders and tripods – just slip one across the lens itself with one hand and compose with the other.

Bringing a darker tone to the sky helps add some mood to an otherwise flat landscape image, or brings the background into effect when shooting a portrait of people in gentle light. ND stands for neutral density, so it stands to reason that such a filter can help soften the light to good effect.


BEYOND SUNNY

After a few weeks of travelling through Nepal and the mountain trails of the Annapurnas I was impressed not only by the clear air and vivid mornings, but the gentle quality of the light that falls on serene landscapes on a cloudy day. Too often I overlook the variety of light once the sun has turned shy. I watched my group of travellers shooting madly at the impressive valleys below us from the town of Kagbeni, and was reminded of how charming the soft light can be.

Grey is not always grey, it can be silver too.