Picture This

Our Picture This! assignment this month was “Light Patterns: Cast Shadows,” and this turned out to be one of the most difficult for us to choose as we received so many excellent entries. The use of shadows in images allows the photographer to bring enhanced form and content into scenes where other lighting conditions might have been less dramatic and graphic. Shadows not only allow us to redefine and refine form, they can also bring in hints of forms off the edges of the frame and add twists and turns in the image that less angled light would miss. Picturing shadows also requires deft skill in metering and seeing the light in new ways, which we believe is well in evidence in this month’s selections.

Tree Lines

Rod Martinez made this early morning photo of aspens and their shadows in fresh snow with a Canon EOS 10D and a Tamron 28-300mm lens atop a Gitzo tripod and an Acratech ball head. Exposure at f/10 and ISO 100 was 1⁄125 sec. © 2010, Rod Martinez, All Rights Reserved

Tomatillo Husk

Rick A. Wetterau “light painted” this form in his studio with a small penlight and worked with a Nikon D700 and a Sigma 105mm macro lens. Exposure on his tripod-mounted camera was f/13 at 3 seconds at ISO 400. © 2010, Rick A. Wetterau, All Rights Reserved

Candle Light & Dark

Barbara Socor made this photo at The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park, New York, with a Nikon D90 and a Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. Exposure at f/13 and ISO 1250 was 1⁄6 sec. © 2010, Barbara Socor, All Rights Reserved

Shapes & Texture

Craig Canetti made this photo of intriguing, shadow-made forms with a Pentax K10D and a Pentax DA 18-55mm lens with an exposure of f/22 at 1⁄20 sec at ISO 100. © 2010, Craig Canetti, All Rights Reserved

City Hall

Made at the San Jose, California, City Hall rotunda, Joaquin R. Felix shot with a Canon EOS 5D and a Sigma lens. Exposure was f/22 at 1⁄25 sec. © 2010, Joaquin R. Felix, All Rights Reserved

Monument Valley Sunset

Natural forms and light cast this butte in a new light in this photo by Roy Allen. This sunset shot was exposed with a Canon EOS 30D and a Canon 28-135mm lens with an exposure of f/11 at 1⁄15 sec at ISO 320. © 2010, Roy Allen, All Rights Reserved

Cup Of Coffee

Mike Zale made the simple wondrous with this photo shot with a Sony Alpha A500 and an 18-55mm lens. © 2010, Mike Zale, All Rights Reserved

Wagon Wheels

Jim Mitchell used this shadow to emphasize and enhance the form of this wheel using a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 18-200mm lens. The photo, exposed at f/8 at 1⁄800 sec, was converted using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro software. © 2010, Jim Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

No Escape

Bob Gates’s title is a visual pun on this highly graphic treatment of fire escapes on a building in downtown Syracuse, New York. He made the original with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens. © 2010, Bob Gates, All Rights Reserved

Cycle Shadow

Texture and forms and hints of motion all combine in this photo by Cameron McIntyre, made with a Nikon D3 and a Nikkor 18-70mm lens; exposure was f/10 at 1⁄400 sec. © 2010, Cameron McIntyre, All Rights Reserved

Dislocated Shadows

Made at the Whitney Museum in New York City, this photo by Kevin Monroe was shot with a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II with a 24-70mm lens and an exposure of f/9 at 1⁄40 sec at ISO 400. © 2010, Kevin Monroe, All Rights Reserved

Shadow Beach

Strong backlighting cast the shadows forward in this photo by Margret Hildreth. She made this image with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 camera. © 2010, Margret Hildreth, All Rights Reserved

Round Barn

The shadow of a windmill falls on this bright red barn in this photo by David Arment. He worked with a Nikon D300 and an 18-200mm VR lens and an exposure of f/9 at 1⁄320 sec. © 2010, David Arment, All Rights Reserved

Shadowy Forms

Joan Shyers caught this mysterious moment at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200 with an exposure of f/2.8 at 1⁄5 sec. © 2010, Joan Shyers, All Rights Reserved

Split, Croatia

This statue and figures against an ancient wall were photographed by Raymond Muzika with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 camera. © 2010, Raymond Muzika, All Rights Reserved