Find The Right Light Friday – Tunnel Vision

By Lane Erickson

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the way out . . . is through.” – David Allan                   

Find the Right Light Friday only one image and a description of how it was created.

The Setting

I work in a building that is in the downtown area of the town I live in. A series of railroad tracks run through town north and south.  The town is in many places divided by the tracks. Only a couple of bridges span the tracks and provide access from one side of town to the other side. However, the closest road to the building I work in has a tunnel that goes under the tracks.  On both sides of the road are sidewalk tunnels built for bikes and people who walk.  

The Idea

I’ve walked through these tunnels many times, but usually without a camera.  However, one day I did have a camera with me. It was the Canon G10 14mp point and shoot camera. I bought this camera many years ago to take with me when I travelled so I could avoid packing my heavy DSLR. When I travel now I just take my Fujifilm cameras and lenses with me because of how light and compact they are.  

With the Canon G10 I realized that all I would need to do is wait for an interesting person to walk or bike through the tunnel to provide a point of interest.  

Several people walked past me and I was able to capture a few images. However, when an older man carrying a sack walked past me I knew I had the subject I had been waiting for. 

The Image

The Canon G10 has a 28-140mm lens built in. I waited until the man had walked nearly to the exit of the tunnel. With the camera zoomed out to 140mm, I took the photograph.  Through trial and error I determined that I wanted my subject to be silhouetted, but I also wanted everything outside of the tunnel to be overexposed so there was no detail. To accomplish this the exposure was set at ISO 80, 1/60 at f/4.5.  

I shot a series of images, but this one was the best. 

I really don’t consider myself a street photographer, but I am proud of this photo. I cropped the image to a square and realized that it turned out exactly how I had seen it in my mind. I didn’t need a professional camera and I didn’t need an expensive lens to create this image. All I needed was imagination and the ability to find the right light, even in a tunnel.  

Always open to comments, I welcome your thoughts, suggestions and even your critiques. Have a great Friday and best wishes in finding the right light for your own photographs.