Tales by Light

In the Netflix Original series, Tales by Light, the viewer follows the stories and journeys of well known and skilled photographers and their passion in photography. My favorite photographer by far was definitely Richard I'Anson, a freelance travel photographer who has been in his field for over 32 years. In his episode of Tales by Light, he is on the hunt to capture photos of a fire rite, (attempted) the Himalayan Snow Leopard, and the Festival of Holi. My favorite event he shot was definitely the Festival of Holi, a Hindu spring festival also known as the ‘festival of colors’, celebrated in India and Nepal. The festival consisted of many celebrations, full of life and color, which is one of my favorite elements in photography. I’Anson got right in the middle of the festivities, letting the participants bombard him with colored water, colored powders, etc. By the end of his shoot, him and his camera (well protected) were covered in all types of vibrant colors.

            What I learned from Richard I’Anson is to not be afraid to get into the action. A lot of photography could be dramatically improved if the photographer had been in the mix, capturing the emotion and energy of what actually is going on. Finding different views and angles instead of just shooting from a distance could be the key to getting the perfect photographs. If an event is shot from afar, an image can still be great but you never know what type of picture you could get if you just jumped into the middle of it.

            Another one of my favorites was Art Wolfe, who really enlightened me on how well he knew about his subjects. He took the time to learn about each thing he was shooting, whether it be traditions in a tribe, what animals inhabit the environment he’s in, animal behavior, etc. He had an extremely vast knowledge of everything he was shooting, which was really impressive to me and showed me that if I’m shooting a foreign subject, I need to know what’s going on so I’m able to capture that shot that may just be one of the best I’ve done. Both Art Wolfe and Richard I’Anson were very good at knowing their subjects, thinking outside the box, and just overall letting their creativity show through their pictures.

            Something I wish the show would focus more on is the mechanics of what they’re doing. They mention it a little bit, but I’d really like to know what exposures they were using, what lenses they’re using, the tools they use (like drones, cars, etc). I really don’t know much about that type of stuff so if they took the time to explain it and discuss the mechanics of the camera and what tools they’re using I’d really enjoy and appreciate that. In the show, they use so much cool technology, and they mention how great it is in almost every episode, but we don’t really get an in-depth look of how they’re making these drones fly and take the pictures, what technicalities come with using these devices, if there’s any limits, etc. I’d just prefer more mechanical information than just the entire episode being about the history of what they’re shooting (which I love I just want more than just that). I overall really enjoy watching this show and it’s taught me a lot, I can definitely see myself continuing watching this on my own time when new seasons come out.