Shadow Play

We all know intuitively what a shadow is when we see it. I suspect that we often ignore shadows when we look at something, just subtract them from our perception to focus on what’s tangible and “real”. And, yet, without shadows, an image often lacks depth and appears flat.

snow covered grass tufts

Sometimes, shadows add a sense of strangeness and exaggeration:

frog and shadow

I love the strong shadows in winter, the way the trees throw their abstracted shapes across the snow, their shadows longest during this time of year.

tree shadows

tree and morning frost

a tree and its shadow

I love the patterns created by shadows, the repetitive geometry of it all.

Not all shadows are dark – when the sun shines into the windows in early morning, shadows against the white wall mirror the colors of the bottles. Here the shadow play is inspired, light-hearted, almost giddy. Clearly, not all shadows are dark and ominous!

colored bottles

For more interpretations of shadow, check out the Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadowed.