My Shadow Selfies.
You know I love making photographs in the “golden hour” when light gets warm-toned and shadows grow long. When the late (or early) sun is shining bright and clear, unobscured by clouds or haze, photographs I make inevitably include shadows. To me, shadows are what gives any sunny day image drama and texture, especially when it’s in monochrome.
Photographers, whether amateur, semi-pro, or professional, may be called, “those who chase the light.” Yeah, sure, light does all the work, with shadows being a result, but I am drawn to the shadows. Does that mean I “chase the shadow” or make me a “shadow-chaser?” Maybe — I kind of like that!
Light on any object casts a shadow onto the surface(s) behind it. A shadow replicates an object’s shape perfectly — a little blurry around the edges due (I’m guessing) to the fact that our Sun is bigger than Earth — modified, embellished, and edited by the shape and texture of the surface(s) onto which it is projected.
Light changes moment by moment throughout each day, which means shadows are changeable and fleeting too. So I enjoy making photographs, capturing fleeting moments of both light and shadow, especially at the beginning and end of a day, when light is warm, and shadows are long.
The funny thing is, when I am “shadow-chasing” in late afternoon, I inevitably see my shadow preceding, alongside, or following me. Sometimes my shadow is included in a photograph I make — either accidentally or purposefully — so it becomes part of the composition. When it’s purposeful, I like to call the resulting image a “Shadow Selfie” and here are a few from today, from walking at Cove Island Park before sunset:
All this talk about “my shadow” has brought to mind this poem on the subject:
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.“My Shadow” (first stanza) by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
A couple more shadow-selfies from a previous post:
Camera: iPhone 11pro
Editing: Hipstamatic app
Photographer: Russ Murray aka “remages”
Location: Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT
See you tomorrow…
russ murray 