What is available light? 11to register an image onto a digital sensor, but also an understand-
ing of atmospheric conditions and the color temperature of light.
To deal with light that’s anything but typical, digital SLRs
include various built-in White Balance settings so you can com-
pensate for these differences. How to use these different White
Balance settings is covered in Chapter 4.
Most of us equate daylight with the proper time for making
photographic exposures and that’s why many photographic
opportunities at night or late in the day are often overlooked.
They shouldn’t be, but all daylight is not the same. Most people
look at the Golden Hour and see the beauty of the subject, no
more and no less. You will hear comments such as, “The sunrise
was just beautiful,” or, “Look at the golden glow in that portrait,”
and maybe, “What a romantic sunset.” As photographers working
in low light, we need to know more about the nature of light so
we can capture light that others merely glance at.Barry’s son Michael Staver travels a great deal and takes full advantage of the opportunity to create eye-
catching photographs. It would seem unlikely to fi nd a unique perspective or angle to photograph one of
America’s best-known icons—the Statue of Liberty—but here is Michael’s take. Most people snap away as
the ferry passes in front of Lady Liberty, or they stand at the base, pointing cameras upward. People think
she needs full sunlight on her as well. Michael broke with all of these traditions as he took this photograph
from the pier, waiting in line for the ferry ride out to the island. The main focus point is the pylon with birds
on top, as you can see, with the statue in the background. He didn’t have the luxury to wait for a sunny day,
so the clouds and rough water combine to give us a different view. In fact, this image is even stronger when
converted to black and white (see Chapter 8 for more on this topic). © 2007 Michael Staver.