LIGHTING OF LANDSCAPES An astonishing variety of effects may be obtained from the same landscape, due entirely to differences in its lighting. Some views are most effective as seen under a soft grey light, whereas in other cases a strong lighting gives the best result. In a bright light the most un satisfactory position for securing the view is with the light directly behind the camera, and, therefore, full on the subject, as the shadows are concealed by the objects casting them. A side lighting is far more satisfactory as giving more relief and allowing the shadows to play their part in the arrangement of the picture. It is often possible to secure a striking and pleasing effect by photographing " against the light "—that is, with the sun more or less opposite the camera— but it is necessary to protect the lens from the direct rays of light. Another opportunity for variation in effects comes when there are clouds through which the sun breaks at intervals in such a manner as to light up this or that portion of the view, while the rest remains in shadow.
Such a play of light and shade on a landscape must be accounted for in the print by a sky that corresponds; so that, if it is not possible to record the sky on the same plate as the land scape, a second plate should immediately be used to secure the sky with a shorter exposure. Not only are the amount and the direction of the light important considerations in landscape work, but also the condition of the atmosphere. A certain amount of haze or mist veiling the distance is often of the greatest value in the pictorial effectiveness of the result. There is much educative value in taking a series of views of the same landscape under as many different conditions of lighting as possible and carefully studying the results.