Don’t you just hate Venetian blinds?

When they’re open, they’re slicing the view into skinny strips; when they’re yanked up, they bunch up at the top of the window to block the sky. The cords are always entangled. And when you pull them up, they land unevenly, with the bottom edge crooked. You can live with it, or fiddle with it endlessly, to straighten it.

And if you prefer an allergen-free room, you’ll never achieve it without daily maid service to wipe down each microbe-laden dust-clinging slat.

But they do excel at one thing: Casting lovely patterns of light and shadow onto your photographic subject.

Yeah, it’s kind of a cheap trick. But effective, isn’t it? Almost elevates an ordinary portrait into art. ♣

To see more photographs where light and shadow etch a pattern (the kind I love best), visit my Lightscapes Collection, HERE. Thanks to the photo challenge ‘Shadowed‘ for the inspiration.

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