Sophomore, LSA
Digital Photo
Abstract
This photo features the signature brilliance of a waning sun’s gold — the last glow before it meets the horizon and marks the end of the day. Here, light and dark meet as shadowed branches reach into the light, breaking up towards the unknown. Created by light scattering and refraction, sunsets may represent an infraction point in our lives. As opposed to sunrises, signifying a new day, this piece represents the peak of halcyon — a last golden break before the times change, the leaves fade, and we enter a new period of our lives, looking behind at the past we wish would last.
Highlighting the brilliant golden light of a sunset, this image reveals the nuances and beauty of the point where the light meets the shadows. The sunset was captured from a shadowed angle beneath a treeline, creating a juxtaposition of dark and light arching from corner to corner and naturally leading the eye upwards — just like how the sun’s filtered rays metaphorically break through the clouds. Additionally, the incorporation of the structured, grounded tree is meant to serve as a contrast to the free-flowing, scattered light particles. The overall effect is that this creates an almost heavenly golden glow stemming from the shadows and reaching into the unknown.
This image demonstrates how sunsets occur due to light scattering and refraction. Light refraction bends the angle at which light enters our atmosphere, essentially functioning as a prism. This impacts the duration and angle at which we perceive the sun’s light, though not the color itself.
Rayleigh scattering describes the process in which shorter wavelengths of light (cool colors) are more frequently scattered than longer wavelengths (warm colors). This is why the sky appears blue during the day; as light shines through the upper atmosphere from our perspective, blue light waves are refracted at a much greater frequency than other wavelengths. But as the sun sets, it passes through more atmosphere, encountering atmosphere particles which causes the blue light to be scattered away from our perspective, leaving behind the warmer colors to paint the sky.
At first glance, this piece is meant to represent the golden days: prosperity, happiness — literal light. Yet just like how light reaches a refraction point (in a sense), the shadowed branches and reflected clouds signify the end of such an era — a literal setting of the light. As opposed to sunrises, typically representing a new day, this sunset represents the peak of halcyon — a last golden break before the times change, the leaves fade, and we enter a new period of our lives, looking behind at the past we wish would last.