Light is Love — Life as a metaphor for Photography

This article is a photography tutorial. It is also a philosophical & poetic observation about our perception of the world, and our relationships with each other.

‘Light painting with a hula hoop and cellphones’—Wide angle long exposure tripod shot in Dublin, Ireland, 2016 — 4 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400 (24 mm f/1.4) — After a couple of tests, exposing for 4 seconds turned out to be a good amount of time for us to paint with our 3 light sources. Aperture is rather closed down (f/6.3) for extra sharpness. ISO is slightly pushed up to 400 to get more details in the dark areas. We even made a time-lapse video that day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJwKDb8pnw

After observing life through various lenses for more than fifteen years, I’ve realised how much this form of art and communication resembles our human nature so well.

From the time we take, to how open we are, or the sensitivity we show; I believe our perception of life can be a beautiful way to describe and teach photography. I’ve been blabbering about this for too long, and I feel now is the time to articulate my thoughts and share my vision with you: Light is Love.

It’s mostly about finding the right balance between 3 things: exposure time, openness and sensitivity.

‘Love Bubbles’—Wedding photography in Orléans, France, 2015 — 1/1000 sec at f/3.2, ISO 100 (24 mm f/1.4) — Speed is often the most important parameter to worry about in situations like this: one thousandth of a second is a rather short exposure time (high speed photograph); it allowed me to freeze those bubbles and capture a sharp image. Choosing the right aperture is also important to make sure we get that wonderful bokeh (blur) in the background. The trick is to keep it relatively open here: close to the max aperture of the lens (f/1.4 in this case). ISO is logically set to 100 to maximise quality. The real challenge was in setting the right focus. I generally like to use continuous (ideally 3D) autofocus set on a single movable point. Then it’s just about aiming and ‘grabbing’ the point in space by triggering-holding the focus engine a couple of times until you see/feel it’s the right time to shoot (I probably aimed at the orange ring).

Glossary

Since there are a lot a confusing terms and synonyms in the photography jargon, I thought I’d start with a short list of definitions (I added Wikipedia links for each). They’re mostly from a digital photography point of view, but you can apply the same principles with film photography.

Shutter speed = speed = exposure time = duration of exposure => amount of light. It is the time during which the sensor is exposed to light. The longer the time (the slower speed) the more light you get. It’s measured in seconds, for example: 20 s or 1 s or 1/50 s or 1/2000 s etc.

Aperture = openness (as I like to call it) => amount of light. It’s the diameter of the ring inside the lens (that looks like an iris). It’s the size of the hole in which light enters to reach the sensor. It can be confusing because it’s a dividing number. So the smaller the figure, the more open it is, and the more light you get (f being the raw light). A few examples of values: f/1.8 or f/2.8 or f/8 or f/22 etc.

ISO speed = ISO = sensitivity = signal gain => amount of light boost. It controls how easily the sensor gets impressed by the light it receives. The higher the value the faster you collect light. Values examples: ISO 100 or 400 or 800 or 3200 etc.

Focal length = zoom value => angle. It’s a value in millimetres that does not directly impact the amount of light, but very much the way it is deformed. The smaller the value, the wider the angle. For example: 10.5 mm or 50 mm or 105 mm or 400 mm etc.

Focal point = principal focus = focus point = focus. It’s basically the point in space where your photo is the sharpest. It also has a value (its distance to the sensor) like 10cm or 25cm etc. or infinite.

Depth of field = area in which things are sharp. It’s a volume in space between two plans. It can be short or long (depending on sensor size + focal length + aperture value + focus position).

This list is too long already so let’s stop here, otherwise it may get more confusing than necessary… But if you’re feeling curious, you can read about those terms as well: bokeh, autofocus, manual focus, white balance, temperature, exposure correction, bracketing, etc.

‘Air swimming’ — Mediterranean sea, Hyères, South France, 2011—1/2000 sec at f/3.5, ISO 200 (50 mm f/1.4)—High speed because water moves really fast. Long focal length + wide aperture because we love that short depth of field. ISO 100 (min value) because there’s plenty of light, so why would you push it up?

The Exposure Triangle

As a photographer, I often get asked “How do you change the brightness/exposure of a shot?” or “How do you make it lighter or darker?”. Of course, you’d expect a rather straightforward answer like “Oh yeah, that’s easy, just change this parameter.” but the truth is: it’s actually a combination of 3 parameters. Each one of them will impact the amount (and quality) of light that you collect. In other words: you can pick and tweak any one of them (Speed, Aperture or ISO) to fix your exposure: this is what we call the Exposure triangle.

The bigger the triangle, the brighter the photo.

You may have come across the metaphor of the glass of water. The glass represents the sensor. Water represents light. A tap is used to represent the camera ‘tapping into life light’. The aim is to get a perfectly filled glass. If you don’t fill it up entirely, the shot will be too dark. If it overflows, the shot will be too bright. Easy right?

To achieve this, you can control three distinct parameters: 1. How long you keep the tap open (speed) 2. How much you open the tap (aperture) 3. The size of the glass (ISO).

Not the best drawings ^^

So you pretty much have an ‘infinity’ of combinations to choose from. “How do I pick the winning trio?” you may wonder… Well, there are still some limitations depending on the situation you find yourself into, so let’s address them from the most obvious to the least:

1. Speed is often the most limiting one because if you keep the ‘light-tap’ open for too long (like say 1 second), your whole photo will get bright and blurry if you move (we call this motion-blur). On the other hand if you don’t spend enough time collecting them photons you may not see a thing. Just darkness, unseen light, for we were too impatient to stop and look, lost forever into space and time…
2. Aperture (the tap’s level of opening) also impacts the amount of light and blur in your photo. But another type of blur: “focus-blur”. The more you open the tap, the more blur you get, in fact making the depth of field shorter (which is often considered as aesthetically pleasing). Also the glass fills up faster if you allow more water to flow in (big aperture = loads of light). It can be handy if there’s not much light in the scene. But if you can afford to be patient, you may decide to close up that tap; only let a small amount of water in which will result in less light and… the opposite of blur? Yes. Sharpness. When we look at the sun our pupils dilate, when we are in the dark they open. Nature thought of everything.
3. ISO / sensitivity / gain is the last one to consider (I actually let my camera pick this one for me most of the time). There’s a simple rule that most photographers follow: the lower the better (ISO 100 in general). A glass with low sensitivity => it needs a lot of water to fill up => it’s a big glass. With a smaller glass, we’d need less water (higher sensitivity, like ISO 3200), but more work would be asked to the camera’s algorithms to squeeze out extra data from the light we capture. This is like creating fake light and it results in more noise, weird colours and overall less quality. Think of it as an amount of your favourite drink (suppose you’re infinitely thirsty). Well you’d want the biggest glass you can, not some diluted imposter of a drink. That’s what high ISO does, it dilutes that beautiful starlight you just harvested with your camera.

Enough technical stuff though, let’s dive into a more interesting idea: “How can we connect photography with our human nature and emotions?”

1. Speed (Exposure Time)

In life, how much time we decide to give to each moment, directly impacts the amount of empathy we feel, the amount of love we generate. The more time you spend with someone, the more you can truly know them, feel their vibe, their heart, their true nature. That’s exposure time. This applies to anything, alive or not, whatever your eyes can see, truly…

‘It’s a beautiful day’ — Solscape, Raglan, New Zealand, 2022—1/400 sec at f/4, ISO 100 (35 mm f/2) — This portrait of my new dear friend Hape is to illustrate how spending time with someone can bring love into your life. Though 1/400 sec is a really short time, it’s the human exposure time that brought us to this moment of joy and life appreciation.

In an almost identical way, the amount of time you give to a film or a sensor will determine how much light will reach it, and also how much beauty it captures, how close to the true colours it gets. It’s like soaking a piece of fabric into tincture, the longer you leave it in, the more colour you get out of it. That’s especially true when doing long exposure shots at night or sometimes during the day like this shot below.

‘Endless Flow’ — Whangarei Waterfalls, New Zealand, 2022 — 23 sec at f/8, ISO 100 (24 mm f/1.4) — Tripod long exposure (23 seconds) made using an ND filter (10 stops). Everything that moved got blurry, all the rest stayed sharp.

We most often call it the speed parameter (S mode on your reflex) and it’s probably the most obvious place to start. Also called exposure time, it’s the simpler one to understand because it changes the look of the shot quite a lot. Remember that day when you tried to take a picture in a pub or something and the photo was blur? Well you shot too slow, you took too much time. The solution is to shoot in ‘S/Speed mode’ and to set it above the speed limit…

‘Autumn Surfer’ — Munich, 2021 — 1/1000 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100 (85 mm f/1.8) — Another example of high speed photo (obviously required here). I often set the aperture at f/2.8 on my 85mm lens because it’s nice (sharper than 1.8 but still gives you that narrow depth of field we all love).

In photography like in life, you must take time, but not too much of it.

Alright that’s very poetic and all, but how does it work?

Just make sure you’re above the speed limit.

I’m sorry?

Yeah man, you gotta hit that speed limit otherwise you don’t see sharp.

What?

The speed limit is where you’re fast enough to capture the moment.

Okay…

There are 2 things to consider: Your focal length and the speed of your subject.

So it’s about being fast enough to get it sharp?

Absolutely! And to know how fast you need to shoot, there’s a simple equation: Speed limit = 1 / focal-length

So if I got a 50mm lens on, I must shoot at 1/50s right?

Yep, or faster if needed. For 2 possible reasons actually: either you got too much light, or your subject is moving too fast.

What if I use a tripod?

Then you don’t have to worry about your focal length since you won’t be shaking the camera.

Alright let’s try it now!

‘Ricochets sur le Loiret’ — Orléans, France, 2019 — 1/4000 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100 (85 mm f/1.8) — High speed photograph because things are moving fast here + it was needed anyway with that amount of sunlight reflection in the water. In this photo, the highlights are burnt in some places making them pure white areas. It’s the sensor saying “I reached my limits and couldn’t capture any more data here”. In situations like this, I prefer setting the focus ahead of the action.

I sometimes think about time like an endless bûche de noël and shutter speed is how I get to pick how big a slice I want in my shot.

2. Aperture (Openness)

When we are open, we can better focus on something. We enter a bubble of perception and truly place our attention on a particular object, living thing or person.

‘Phil & Zima’ — Dublin, Ireland, 2018 — 1/400 sec at f/2.8, ISO 800 (180 mm f/2.8) — 1/400 just to be safe because the shot was handheld, Aperture maximum for 2 reasons: lack of light and need for bokeh, ISO went up a bit, but not too much thanks to the matrix metering exposure mode (safest setting).

On the other hand, being too open may blur your vision. You may miss the point/subject and lack sharpness. Closing down may be beneficial sometimes to be able to see the full picture, focus on more things at once.

The camera reacts the same way to the aperture you choose:
* Open = one thing in focus = more blur
* Closed = more things in focus = sharper look

In photography like in life, we all try be as open as possible, without loosing our focus.

‘Zigzag l’Escargot’—Paris, France, 2012 — 1/125 sec at f/2.8, ISO 360 (50 mm f/1.4) — Though the aperture is not fully open (for more sharpness), getting as close as possible (focus set to the smallest distance) helps a lot in bringing that short depth of field (quite visible here).

Another way to create a sense of proximity is to get closer. As simple as it sounds, it’s actually the best way to give depth to your photos: move towards your subject (or get the other elements away from it). You can also zoom (increase the focal length), or use a macro lens like in this shot.

‘Soft kiss’ —Alpes, France, 2021— 1/1250, F/3.5, ISO 100, 28–85 mm (3.5–4.5) @ 28 mm — Macro flower shot with a great cheap old zoom lens. Lenses can either be primes (fixed focal length) or zooms (changeable focal length). The primes are better cause they generally bring more light in + have better colours, contrast, sharpness… Bref, they are awesome! But zooms (like the lens I used here) are handy and good for hikes and strolls.

As you probably guessed, doing exactly the opposite will result in a sharper look. Actually, sometimes one may decide to set the aperture at f/8 (probably the sharpest value for most lenses) or more. We close it down for more clarity, sharpness, and a longer depth of field. Another reason why you’d close down your aperture is: there’s simply too much light. Just like a traveller squinting to see what’s at the horizon, the lens closes its aperture ring to see clearer…

‘Double Surfer’ — Raglan, New Zealand, 2022 — 1/400 sec at f/8, ISO 200 (180 mm f/2.8)—’F eight’ is the classic landscape setting as it’s often the sharpest (for most lenses) + it gives you a nice and long depth of field.

Alright, open = blurry, closed = sharp, but what about the ‘focus point’ and ‘depth of field’? What are they exactly?

Fair question indeed. First, let’s define what the field is. It’s the area in focus, a 3D space or volume. You can think of as a flat ‘bubble’ of air (of a certain depth) surrounded by clouds. The air makes things sharp. The clouds blur. things out. And just like real clouds in the sky, the limits between the two gases are gradual. The sharpest point (or plan), at the centre of it, is called the focus point; and it can be moved (along with the whole field) closer or further away by playing with the aperture ring.

‘Ukulele song for the sea’ — Camille ❤ Bretagne, France, 2022–1/250 sec at f/8, ISO 100 (35 mm f/2.8) — Beautiful soft light reaching the sensor at native capacity (ISO 100), through a rather small opening (f/8), just for an instant (1/250 s). “But I’m sad to say I’m on my way. Won’t be back for many a day. My heart is down, my head is turning around. I had to leave a little girl in Kingston Town.” — Harry Belafonte.

The photo above is a good example of the impact of the aperture value on depth of field. The focus point is on Camille, but the landscape area behind her is also sharp. This is thanks to three things: the aperture value (f/8), the focal length (35mm) and my distance to her (not too close). This is why we the field of sharpness is large / long / deep.

I could have chosen to open at f/2 for example to get a shorter depth of field in order to capture a more dreamy / blurry version of this moment. In that case speed needs to go up, sometimes up to 1/4000s to make sure we still don’t get too much light (overexposure).

There’s an infinity of angles, perspectives and parameters that can alter the quality of what we see. It is everyone’s choice to shoot fast & wide open, or slow & closed up.

3. ISO (Sensitivity)

Sensitivity (physiology) is the ability of an organism to respond to external stimuli. It resembles our human sensibility — the capacity to be affected by something, to respond to aesthetic and emotional stimuli: the sensibility of the artist. We all have different levels of sensibility and it affects how we respond to things around us.

Emotions are impressed onto us like photons on a sensor.

‘Rose Fire Dance’ Raglan, New Zealand, 2022 — 1/200 sec at f/3.5, ISO 1800 (50 mm f/1.4) — High ISO was necessary here since it’s almost night time + I needed 3.5 for sharpness + at least 1/200 to catch a sharp frame of Rose, but not too fast to give a blurry vibe to the fire.

Okay so ISO is like magic: the more light you need, the more you use it. Instant light boost and tada! But just like many spells, it comes with a cost: you loose quality the more you use it. Generally ISO needs to go up at night since there’s less light available. But even so, you should always try to use it with moderation.

‘Romane fire face’ in Raglan, New Zealand, 2022–1/1000 sec at f/1.4, ISO 800 (50 mm f/1.4) — The most important was to catch her eyes in focus (especially at full aperture like here). The flame looks different on this shot because the speed is higher. ISO 800 is considered an acceptable level of boost and contributed to keep the shot bright and soft enough. As always, digital development (in Lightroom) helps in managing sharpness and noise.

In life we also try to be zen and peaceful as much as we can. Imagine a t-shirt saying ‘ISO 100’ with a peace sign above it on one side and ‘ISO 3200’ with a rock n roll hand on the other side. This is how I feel about sensitivity.

Keep your cool most of the times, but feel free to go upbeat when the times call for it!

‘Pride Block Party Boy’ in Dublin, Ireland, 2016–1/125 sec at f/1.8, ISO 800 (50 mm f/1.4) — One of my personal favourite photos. I had to run to get my camera before he pulled up his pants. Focusing in such conditions is always a hassle, and I didn’t manage to get a sharp image of him that night. Luckily I ended with this photo: an unexpected painting of colours and faces embraced by this blurry naked man. This is a perfect example of a situation where speed is maxed out (can’t shoot any slower), aperture almost is too (getting all the light I can) and ISO comes to the rescue (800 is not too bad though).

In a way, ISO is like adrenaline. It gives us an extra push of sensitivity to be able to process the situation with more clarity, more intensity.

‘Crowd surfer’—Zoufris Maracas in Rennes, France, 2022–1/125 sec at f/2.5, ISO 2000 (85 mm f/1.8) — So much joy in this photo, like a rush of light and love! As often in live music situations, the exposure triangle is almost locked. Values are maxed out for the speed and aperture, and ISO helps to save the exposure. Though, it’s important to state that the original unedited shot was quite dark.

Camera Modes (How to delegate)

If you made it that far, thank you! Hopefully, you should now have some idea how each of the 3 parameters impacts the aspect of your photo. But you may also be thinking:

“There’s no way I’ll have neither the patience nor the time, to think about the 3 of them every time I take a photo.”

And you’re right. Thankfully we made our cameras like little robots, so we can brief and trust them with some of the decisions we have to make.

That’s pretty much all you need to know on a camera ^^

ISO auto/manual

For example, automatically selecting the right ISO value is a trick made possible by digital sensors, and definitely one of the most useful ones.

Back in the days, you had to change the entire film to do that. Today, our smartphones and cameras do that by default. And for good reason: it’s very convenient to be able to adapt to any scene. If you don’t mind loosing a bit of quality sometimes, it gives you more flexibility on the range of values you can choose for the 2 other parameters (speed and aperture). We simply have less compromises to do with endless magic potion available.

In some situations though, one may want to get back control over it (most often to keep it low and ensure optimal quality). So make sure to learn how to switch between the auto and manual ISO settings on your camera. Also there’s another setting you can tweak to set a maximum ISO value (based on what you consider to be acceptable with the the camera or situation).

Priority modes

Alright, now that we know how to deal with the sensitivity, let’s get into those 4 letters M A S P on that wheel on top of your camera. You may or may not have avoided them for a while, but now is the time to unlock their true power!

‘Paper planes’ — Fashion shoot with https://www.instagram.com/zima_gram/ in Dublin, Ireland, 2016–1/200 sec at f/7.1, ISO 64 (85 mm f/1.8) — When using a flash (or strobe), we usually shoot in manual mode to be in full control of all parameters. Flashing is like splashing an extra bucket of light on your subject and into your sensor.

M = Manual mode

You control everything: Speed + Aperture + ISO. Though the camera can select the right ISO speed for you (if you’re in auto mode). You may wanna reserve this one for great occasions, like a light-painting session or if you’re into a specific / delicate situation.

A = Aperture priority mode

Probably the most common one to use, this mode leaves you in control of only one thing: the aperture. The camera picks the appropriate speed. ISO can be auto or manual.

S = Speed priority mode

Pretty handy mode also, you’re in charge of choosing the shutter speed. Useful in fast moving scenes, as well as for very slow captures, or dark environments. Actually quite often. ISO can be auto or manual.

P = Program mode

This one is kind of the auto mode. Just make sure you set the ISO to 100 (or any value you decide). If ISO auto mode in on, then you basically have nothing to worry about. The camera will expose the scene in the best way it can, with the 3 parameters it controls.

Focal length / Angle

Choosing a lens is an important decision. If I feel social, I bring the 35mm. If I feel shy, the 85mm is my preference. Carrying a lens is like having a special perception bubble. A wide angle will have me observe the bigger picture, while a long lens will have me focus on the details.

The zoom value shouldn’t be seen as a way to crop your photo, but as a major storytelling tool, a conscious decision about what type of deformation you want to use to tell your story.

In life, the angle we choose to adopt, the way we look at something, the perspective we have, also impact our vision and how things appear to us.

‘Dream state’ — Landscape photography in the Alpes, France, 2022–1/640 sec at f/8, ISO 640 (300 mm f4) — Panorama made with two photos in Lightroom. Sometimes you have to step back. When you can’t, make a panorama.

Composition / Balance

How to compose a photo? Follow the golden ratio (rule of third), align things, move with intention. Get to your subject’s level.

In photography like in life, you need to leave space between your elements. Balance, contrast and rhythm also are important things to look for when searching for the perfect angle.

Rules are great, but they can be broken when instinct is stronger. This is why we should call them ‘guides’. There are no rules. Just light and love to show us the way.

‘Light is Love’ — Rodolphe & Alice at their Wedding night ❤—St Malo, France, 2021–1/100 sec at f/1.4, ISO 1000 (50 mm f1.4) — Much love and light are in this picture. Forever frozen in time.

Photography is good for you

Our biological nature, the complex relationship between our 2 eyes, brain, and all our senses, make for a unique perception that is impossible to duplicate. So in order to capture our reality, we made a lens and placed a photo-sensitive surface behind it, just like an eye. A very primitive (yet awesome) device when you think about it. A strange mechanical beast with one eye, designed to mimic our biological vision devices.

When taking a photo, we’re trying to paint a picture of what we see, of what we feel. But never can a photograph truly replicate what reality is to us. It will always be merely an attempt to get as close as possible to what we experienced. No matter if you choose a 35 or 50mm lens (both considered close to human vision), the frame that is being captured will always appear like a surprise for us since it can never truly match our personal experience of the scene.

In that sense, every photograph is a window into an unseen perspective. A rather pleasant surprise most often. An ode to serendipity, with every frame potentially hiding a happy accident.

Maybe this is why we love the thrill of discovering a photo. And the longer we seem to wait, the more joy we feel. Like back in the days, when you had to get your photos developed and would be so happy to discover new memories from the past.

My Lightroom catalog counts today more than 200 thousand photos. Every time I open it, I get lost in the time-machine… where I can feel the love and nostalgia for all the good times and lovely moments I was lucky to experience.

I believe photography can be a way to cultivate our empathy, kindness and humanity; toward others and ourselves. It has definitely helped me changing my viewpoint, reconsidering things, and remembering that life is beautiful when I needed it. This is why I believe light is love, because collecting it is good for us. So I figured I should continue doing it and sharing it.

Memory does not make films, it makes photographs. — Milan Kundera

‘Urban kid’ — Cardiff, Wales, 2010–1/640 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 (50 mm f1.8) — When I was 19, I spent 3 months in Cardiff for an internship. Mykolas was my first flatmate ever. We became good friends and I hope we’ll meet again some day. Exposure time. Openness. Sensitivity.

Thanks so much for reading my article. I’d love to hear your thoughts too! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. Also, please let me know if you like my story :) Light & Love to you ❤

Rémi.
http://remiparnaud.com