I was going to write this article about "light". My thinking was that "light" was a topic worthy of prompt attention because, to me, it is the most important thing in photography. Understanding light is the key to making good images. But then I thought about it some more and came to the following conclusion:

1) It is a very, very big topic. Probably too big for an article like this.

I was going to try to tackle it anyway (and soon will; in multiple parts), but then I realized that:

2) It is not actually the most important thing in photography.

Do you know what the most important thing in photography is? The camera? The film? The number of megapixels?

No.

You are! The photographer is by far the most important thing in photography. I'm not saying light isn't important (it's the most important part of photography to you, but it is not more important than you). And your specific equipment isn't really all that important (you need some equipment, of course. But, the fact is, most of the time, most any equipment will do).

Let me provide an example:

I was out shooting with a friend near the Golden Gate Bridge. There was this lovely sunset happening with these fishing boats coming into the bay. It was a great photo waiting to be taken, so we started taking pictures. I gave my friend the following unsolicited advice*:

"I'd meter on the sky if I were you," I said. I knew that going by the camera's meter would result in over exposure in this situation. "Okay, thanks," she replied while continuing to shooting in "auto" mode.

Later she told me that her pictures were kind of "washed out" and she asked how mine turned out. Mine were fine, exposure was not an issue for me. Why? Well it wasn't because my camera was better (I could have handed my camera to her and she would have still taken washed out pictures) and it wasn't because of the light per se (the light tricked her meter, but that wasn't the main reason). The reason why my pictures were fine was because I know how camera meters work and had shot in similar conditions many times before. I made my photos work. Me.

So next time you see a really great photo, give credit where credit is due: to the photographer who took it. And the next time someone admires one of your photos, know that the credit is all yours.

-Eric

* My Mom was chalk full of useful advice. She once told me not to give advice because "fools don't heed it and wise men don't need it". I should follow her advice more than I do.