Light Sources Throughout History

Light plays a significant part in our lives as photographers — it's what lets us make images on different film formats. We play around with it, experiment with various combinations and settings, and manipulate it to bring out our desired effects.

From the most basic to the advanced, these light sources served us in more than just our photographic exploits. They're important not only to our craft of “painting with light” but also to different technological and practical applications. Can you imagine if we were still just depending on gas lamps? Thankfully, light sources improved drastically as times changed.

American magazine and publisher The Atlantic came up with a well-made short video about the history of light. In the short sub-three minute video, they showed the different sources of light through the years. Each period was represented to illustrate how each light source worked. It's nice to see how far mankind has gone to create different ways to illuminate the world.

The video was put together well and it includes the birth of the flash — something that we're all familiar here in the community. That sudden burst of light can illuminate the darkest subjects for better compositions. From times when one flash per bulb was the photographic standard to the advent of professional flashes and creation of unique ringlights (and colored gels) we use today, the simple flash has indeed gone a long way and maybe it will only improve in the coming years.

We, as Lomographers know the value of the flash. Not only that, we use it to give our photographs a healthy dose of light and at times, wily effects and splashes of color. Another great thing about the community is how we look at things from a different perspective. Aside from the humble flash, we also saw the birth of crazy photography experiments using LEDs in the form of light sticks, flashlights, and even laser pointers. These nifty gadgets opened a new door for creative possibilities like multiple exposures, light streaks, light paintings, the list just goes on and on. We're a fun bunch and we definitely know how to liven things up even with something as simple as a small penlight. We guess it's just in our DNA!

How about you? How do you use light to your advantage when taking a photo? Sound off in the comment section below and share your funky projects powered with different sources of light!

written by cheeo on 2018-07-08 #culture #videos #light-source #visual-history-of-light