A New Medium

Deep In the Light, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

I was listening to an inteview with Joel Meyerowitz posted on the net at The Candid Frame that got me thinking again about this medium of digital photography. At the very end, Meyerowitz recommends looking at the work of early American photographers William Henry Jackson and Timothy O’Sullivan because they were inventing the new medium as they went along.

We’re inventing a new medium once again and these are very exciting times. The tools are changing quickly, allowing creation of images that could never before be created. It inspired me to take the D300 and my SB800 flash out into the yard and create some images that depend on two new innovations: wireless off camera flash and the rapid review of digital images. Together they allow a rapid experimentation where natural and artificial light are mixed.

In this image, I would have shot the grass and foliage against the light, but the tree would have been dark, a looming silhouette. By using the wireless flash, I was able to create an entirely impossible counter-illumination of the tree, picking out the detail in the bark very dramatically.

I’ve been pushing images in this direction in post processing, but using real light starts the image much closer to where I wanted it to finish. by taking the exposure of the ambient light way down, I was able to get the drama of the light coming toward the camera. I then independently lit the tree.

There are lots of digital photographers experimenting with these off camera flash approaches, mostly in portraiture. I like the idea that the tree here is my main character, the subject of the landscape.

Author: James Vornov

I'm an MD, PhD Neurologist who left a successful academic career on the Faculty of The Johns Hopkins Medical School to develop new treatments in Biotech and Pharma. I became fascinated with how people actually make decisions based on the science of decision theory and emerging understanding of how the brain works to make decisions. My passion now is this deep explanation of what has been the realm of philosophy, psychology and self help but is now understood as brain function. By understanding our brains, I believe we can become happier, more successful people. View all posts by James Vornov