Light Studies

Online Meeting (See Instructions/Get Zoom Link Emailed)

United Parish of Auburndale

64 Hancock Street

Auburndale, MA

Exploring the Light Atmosphere of a Place

Certain places call out to us to be contemplated and explored. Whether they are a big city or a small town, public or a private space. Bodies of work that explore the light and atmosphere of such places are often called Light Studies. Light, shadow, night and twilight are the tools that David H. Wells uses as he makes his award winning “Light Studies." Train stations, shrines, city centers, buildings and the like are just a few potential subjects for such “Light Studies.”

David H. Wells is a freelance editorial photographer who specializes in producing “Light Studies” on location, across the globe. His finished "Light Studies" have been published in general interest magazines as well as photography magazines and have been exhibited in exhibitions around the world. Spend time with this master of light and shadow who will help you understand how to make your own "Light Studies."

Wells will share specific techniques (and particular images that highlight those techniques) that he used to create his "Light Study" photo-essays.

Topics to be explored include:

• Specific issues of time of day / morning vs. evening light

• Quality and direction of light

• Scouting a location to plot the play of light

• The importance of the photographer's position

• The use of lines, light and dark

• Lens choice / composition

• Framing to create dramatic images when no dramatic light exists

Attendees will gain a better understanding of available light, how it is shaped by the time of day, seasons, the photographer’s positioning, etc.

"Wells uses light and dark like a surgeon… His dynamic compositions have an almost surreal quality that reshapes our expectations of space. (He) uses light, carefully, to explore interior human complexities." Charles Biasiny-Rivera, a curator and critic.