Directional Non-Directional Light

May 11, 2022

I learned something important from this shot. I was on the shady side of the street, and assumed that this was a shadowless, open shade exposure. On viewing the photo, I saw an unusual richness and texture in the concrete lion. Once I noticed the shadows on the frame of the garage door in the background, I realized that the light actually had some direction. Perhaps there was some sunlight bouncing off of a house. At any rate, there are shadows and visible texture on the surface.

I recall watching an instructional video by a photographer who used his hand to determine the direction of existing light sources. By placing his hand in the palm-up position and raising one finger, he could see from the shadow the direction of the light was coming from. While this sunlit digit is pretty easy to analyze, it might not be so obvious on a cloudy day. 

I am sure that from now on, I won't take the direction of the key light for granted, especially when shooting in locations where the sun might encounter some natural light modifiers. Just be cognizant of which finger you decide to use.

May 14, 2022

Addendum: This was the first time I encountered a Frenchy immortalized in concrete. It was sitting in the same "open shade" environment as the lion.  By observing the faint shadow in the palm of my hand, I saw some reflected light from the buildings across the street. This faint but directional light makes it easier to see the details around the eyes and below the chin.

There are two takeaways from this exercise. First, you may  need help to determine the presence of you main (key) light when working in compromised lighting environments. This would include variations on Open Shade, and indoors, where there may be several artificial light sources, each competing to be "key". Second, true open shade seems to be a rarity in the Big City, since you will always have buildings reflecting light onto your subject unless you only work outdoors in wide open spaces.

Awareness of the direction of your key light, however faint, is important.