Avoid distracting light in your photo

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

You cannot take a photo without light. Be careful where you have light in your photo, because sometimes light becomes distracting. Pay particular attention to the edges of the photo. That is usually somewhere you do not want light.

As humans, we always look at the lightest part of a photo. That is where our attention naturally goes. Usually, this happens unconsciously. Once you start paying attention to it, you can become very aware of it.

The subject should almost always be in the light. Either illuminated, or with light in the background creating a silhouette. That is where the attention goes. That is what you want to achieve, directing attention to the subject.

That attention is distracted when there is light in other parts of the photo. Sometimes this is functional for the overall image. Sometimes the extra light is distracting. This is particularly noticeable when it is at the edges of the photo.

In the example above, a fir tree is lit by the rising sun. The rest of the landscape is still covered in shadow. This creates a beautiful contrast. But look at the top edge of the photo. There is distracting light there.

By removing the light areas with a simple crop, this distracting light disappears. Now the attention remains on the fir tree. A vignette enhances this even further.

Always look at the light in the photo. Look at where the light is, rather than where the shadows are. This helps you find distracting light. Try to compose the photo so that you keep the distracting light out of the frame.

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