Between Light and Shadow
Light attracts attention. Shadow creates mystery.
Photographers spend a great deal of time searching for beautiful light.
The best photographers also learn to appreciate beautiful shadow.
Light reveals.
Shadow simplifies.
Together, they shape the way we experience a photograph, directing attention, creating atmosphere, and allowing subjects to emerge with intention rather than explanation.
This week’s assignment challenged photographers to think beyond exposure and begin sculpting with contrast.
Members were challenged to create a horizontal image using dramatic light and shadow.
Whether working with natural daylight, practical lighting, or studio equipment, photographers were encouraged to use contrast intentionally to shape mood, depth, and storytelling within their niche.
The objective wasn’t simply to light the scene.
It was to decide what deserved to remain unseen.
Every great photograph is a conversation between light and shadow.
Why This Matters
Most can illuminate a subject.
Creating atmosphere requires restraint.
Understanding when to reveal detail and when to allow shadow to take over is one of the defining characteristics of mature photographic work.
Contrast isn’t simply about brightness.
It’s about directing the viewer’s attention, creating emotion, and allowing the image to communicate with clarity and purpose.
Whether photographing people, places, or products, photographers who understand light and shadow gain another powerful storytelling tool.
Assignment Brief
At the end of each review session, CARTY delivers a focused brief outlining exactly what members will create for the following week.
For this assignment, photographers were challenged to create a horizontal image using dramatic light and shadow within their niche.
The goal was to use intentional lighting and contrast to build mood, create depth, and strengthen visual storytelling while maintaining complete control over the viewer’s experience.
The photographs selected this week demonstrate more than technical lighting.
They demonstrate intention.
Each photographer made thoughtful decisions about where the light should fall, what should remain in shadow, and how contrast could strengthen the story.
These are this week’s featured photographs.
Sonny Warren
Did another photographer or a specific photograph influence your approach to this image? If so, who or what was it, and how did you make it your own?
There was no specific photo or photographer I used for reference.
I was focussing on sculpting the light in the studio to match the subject.
What creative or technical decision had the biggest impact on the final image?
I wanted to have a dramatic image that sculpted the body and face.
To achieve this I went with a hatchet style lighting from the side and back of the model.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this photograph, and how did you overcome it?
Sculpting the body with dramatic light without losing shadow detail.
To work this, I used large modifiers very close to soften and wrap the light.
What do you hope viewers notice or feel when they first experience this image?
I want the viewer to notice the shapes and contours of the face and body sculpted from the light and shadow.
What did this assignment teach you that you’ll carry into future work?
Embrace the dramatic.
Social Media Handles:
Website: sonnywarrenphoto.com
Instagram: sonnywarrenphoto
Michael Walls
Did another photographer or a specific photograph influence your approach to this image? If so, who or what was it, and how did you make it your own?
Yes I had a couple references for this shoot.
The one that struck this idea was of a single piece of chocolate that stood as a hero shot and an another product sitting in cocoa powder.
So with this being a double page assignment, I chose to shoot the entire chocolate bar so it would go across two pages and added the cocoa powder and added the chain to play off of their brand.
What creative or technical decision had the biggest impact on the final image?
The angle of the light that I went with.
I feel that it showed the brand well and the texture of their product with the brand name clearly visible.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this photograph, and how did you overcome it?
Working with the cocoa powder was pretty challenging.
It sticks to any and everything that it touches, so it was hard keep it off the face of the bar and ruining the texture.
What do you hope viewers notice or feel when they first experience this image?
I hope that it catches their attention and bring awareness to the inhumanity that goes on inside of the cocoa industry like this company is actively fighting to end.
What did this assignment teach you that you’ll carry into future work?
It gave me a better understanding on how to control light to add a mood to photos that I can use on future work
Social Media Handles:
Website: michaelwallsphotography.com
Instagram: wallsofmemoriesphotograhpy
Denise Tuggle
Did another photographer or a specific photograph influence your approach to this image? If so, who or what was it, and how did you make it your own?
The photographer who most influenced my approach to this project was Tom Medvedich.
His masterful use of light and shadow, particularly his bold application of hard light, inspired the direction of this image.
I admire how his lighting creates depth, drama, and visual impact while remaining clean and intentional.
Rather than replicating his style, I adapted those principles to complement my own subject, using controlled hard light to emphasize the bottle’s form, texture, and reflective qualities while creating an image that reflects my own artistic vision.
What creative or technical decision had the biggest impact on the final image?
The creative decision that had the greatest impact on the final image was my use of hard light to create bold, dramatic shadows.
My goal was to produce strong contrast that would enhance the shape and character of the product without overpowering it.
The technical challenge was carefully controlling the light intensity.
Too much power introduced unwanted double shadows, so I had to fine-tune the balance of my lighting to achieve the deepest, cleanest shadow possible while maintaining detail and clarity throughout the image.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this photograph, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I face while creating this photograph was getting the right light balance.
This as challanging because I am shooting on a white background against a refective bottle label that is also printed black and white.
This is a total reciept for over exposure.
I had to make sure that the white balance was correct across the board using the histogram to keep the balance of darks and light.
What do you hope viewers notice or feel when they first experience this image?
I hope viewers are immediately drawn to the interplay between light and shadow and how that relationship creates a sense of drama and sophistication.
My intention was for the lighting to guide the viewer’s eye naturally toward the product, highlighting its elegance and design without distraction.
I want the image to evoke a sense of refinement while demonstrating how thoughtful lighting can transform a simple product into something visually compelling.
What did this assignment teach you that you’ll carry into future work?
This assignment reinforced one of the most important lessons in photography: light is everything.
Thoughtful lighting has the power to create emotion, depth, and contrast, transforming an ordinary scene into something extraordinary.
It also taught me the value of slowing down and giving every lighting decision the attention it deserves.
Rather than rushing through the process, I learned to experiment, trust my creative instincts, and allow every idea the opportunity to evolve.
Those lessons will continue to shape my work as I strive to create images that are both technically precise and artistically impactful.
Social Media Handles:
Website: denisetugglephotography.com
Instagram: denisetphotography
Hal Banfield
Did another photographer or a specific photograph influence your approach to this image? If so, who or what was it, and how did you make it your own?
This image was inspired by Herb Ritts’ shoot with Madonna in her True Blue era.
I loved the idea of shooting leather in black and white.
I took that concept and tried for something a bit darker and moodier.
What creative or technical decision had the biggest impact on the final image?
To get to the shadows and light effect, I wanted to lean into high contrast in the blacks.
To showcase more reflective lighting, the leather jacket brought in a bit more specularity.
I continued by positioning the key light to provide some dimension on the subject’s face and rim light for a bit of separation.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this photograph, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was shooting this in a very small space with not much depth.
I was shooting at 35mm and needed to be sure I wasn’t getting too close to distorting the subject.
Also, there were a lot of distracting elements in the background, and I wound up using whatever I could find (dark blankets, black foamcore, etc) to block out what did not need to be in the photo.
What do you hope viewers notice or feel when they first experience this image?
I wanted viewers to pick up on the image’s high contrast in relation to the subject’s glaring expression, with him staring down the barrel of the lens.
What did this assignment teach you that you’ll carry into future work?
This assignment taught me that trial and error is very much the name of the game when working out problems in small and tight spaces.
Social Media Handles:
Website: halbanphotography.com
Instagram: halbanphotography
Jim Sinicki
Did another photographer or a specific photograph influence your approach to this image? If so, who or what was it, and how did you make it your own?
I’ve always been a fan of the work by Estevan Oriol and when I thought up the original plan for a bmx street portrait, I wanted to channel a bit of his style while shooting it my way.
What creative or technical decision had the biggest impact on the final image?
I love shooting dark tones and pushing contrast so I knew I wanted to stay with that feel, but one of the things Carty has always gotten on me about was adding in a second light to help separate my subject from the dark background.
When I started building the light for this image there was no question I wanted to build in a second light to create those separating highlights.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while creating this photograph, and how did you overcome it?
As we were shooting we started to get a little weather moving in.
It started raining and was getting quite windy.
This forced me to speed up the process, but I had a vision, and there wasn’t going to be anything to stop me from creating it.
What do you hope viewers notice or feel when they first experience this image?
I hope they notice the thought that went into lighting this scene, light is something I pride myself on and I’m always so proud when it works the way I want.
What did this assignment teach you that you’ll carry into future work?
Finding new ways to balance light and shadow.
Social Media Handles:
Website: charliejamesphoto.com
Instagram: charlie_james_photo
Substack: Charlie James Photo
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Watch the replay of these photo submissions below.