Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Job had a lot to say about shadows, not surprising considering his condition. He compared mankind to shadows to emphasize how short-lived we are. “They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.” (Job 14:2 NIV) But in his misery it appears he forgot an important element. Those shadows only appear when there is light, when the sun is shining. And that means he could have compared shadows to problems, which based upon this parallel, are also short-lived. That’s easy for us to say when things are going well, but not so easy when in the midst of chaos.
Shadows can make or break a picture. They can distract or hide important details. But without them, the picture can appear flat and lack dimension. I took many pictures of this Black-chinned Hummingbird (Do birds have chins?) but had difficulty getting him in the right light so the purple color of his gorget could be seen at its best. Otherwise, his throat just appeared black. But in capturing the color, the shadow of his bill appeared on its breast and was distracting. I suppose I could have Photoshopped the image but somehow that didn’t seem right. The shadow was just part of the picture.
While this shadow may have bothered me, let me ask you a question. Was the shadow the first thing you noticed in the picture? Probably not. While on this earth we will always have shadows, but maybe they are worth it to have those glorious colors.