Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 29

A Porch, a Deck Chair and a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Deck Chair on the Porch   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

There is no direct light on the deck chair, and this photograph was lit entirely with the moving beam of a flashlight. Dark shadows are most well-defined where the light from the flashlight went back over the same area more than once, which is also where the highlights on the porch wall and the detail in the chair are best depicted, too.     

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 28

Grapes, a Glass Bowl and a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Glass Bowlful  of Grapes   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

At night, with no direct light on the bowl of grapes except the flashlight beam, the camera is able to create an image which is a record of where the light has traveled while the shutter was open. And the grapes are isolated and spotlighted in the scene.  

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 27

Painting with a Flashlight    

Light-Painting a Geranium Plant   

- makes a dramatic play of highlights and shadows.    

Cameras can create images that the human eye could never perceive. With no other light source except a flashlight beamed around the blossoms of the plant, and with the camera set to make a long enough exposure, the geranium plant becomes a dynamic sculpture in color and texture. 

         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 26

Pale Shadows on the Shed     

Pale Orange Illumination from Streetlamps   

- and a cluster of nearby trees make dancing shadows on the shed.    

The orange light from the streetlamps is blocked by trees on the other side of the yard, making flickering liquid shadows on the side of the shed. On the adjoining side of the shed, the corner of a chain link fence makes a more pronounced zigzag.         

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 18

Birch Tree Bark in Floodlight    

Floodlight Accentuates the Shadows     

- and brings out the texture of birch bark on the tree trunk.    

The floodlights are close to this tree. The highlights and shadows from the floodlights makes the texture of the birch bark and the form of the tree stand out in the darkness.      

Everything Looks Different at Night - Day 9

Shadows at Night    

Is It Strange to See Shadows at Night  

- wrapping around the cylindrical form of the tree trunks?     

Cast shadows are created when an object blocks light from reaching an area that is lit by a light source. The criss-crossed shadows on these tree trunks were made by the branches that stand between  the floodlights and the trees that they are spotlighting.    

Seeing What's Not There - Day 30

Shadows Define Texture  

Texture in a Piece of Wood 

-  is defined by the pattern of highlights and shadows        

Our fingers can touch a texture, feeling it as a collection of raised and lowered areas on a surface. Our eyes can see a pattern of light and dark, and our brains have learned to associate it with the texture that our fingers can feel.    

Seeing What's Not There - Day 28

Shadows on Spring Grass  

Shadows Across the Lawn 

-  where the grass is starting to show green       

Just a few hours ago, this area of lawn was covered with snow - now as the snow is melting away, the grass is coming to life after the winter, old blades greening up with fresh chlorophyll to feed itself and start new growth.   

Seeing What's Not There - Day 26

Shadow Stripes on Spring Leaves  

Shadows Enhance the Textures of Dried Spring Leaves 

-  which covered the ground during the winter       

When these trees block the light from striking the ground, their shadows give information about the size and shape of the trees, the intensity of the sunshine, and the texture of the ground where the shadows are falling.   

Seeing What's Not There - Day 24

A Shadow Box For Alder Cones  

A Twig of Alder Nestled 

-  into its own custom display case       

Heat from the daytime sunshine collected by the dark brown twig was enough to melt the surrounding snow and fit the cone into its own cozy chamber. Freezing temperatures at night added the protective cover of ice.   

Seeing What's Not There - Day 22

Shadows Within a Cloud Bank  

Shadows on the Underside of Clouds

-  demonstrate atmospheric perspective       

Without the play of light on the top of clouds and the cast shadows on the underside of the clouds, the moisture that is suspended in the atmosphere would be a uniform gray tone. We can only make out clouds because we can see their shadows from underneath.  

Seeing What's Not There - Day 19

Shadows Over Mixed Ground  

Shadows Tell Your Eyes About The Ground They Cover

-  and give information about surface and texture       

These are shadows cast by a cluster of trees. They lie across a melting snowbank as well as the dried leaves covering the ground the snow has melted away from. The surfaces have different forms and different textures, and the cast shadows reveal this.

Seeing What's Not There - Day 18

Shadows on Melting Snow  

The Shape of a Melting Snowbank

-  is defined by the shadows cast across it         

Spring's daily temperature fluctuations melt the surface of a snowbank into ripples and bumps, and freezes the skin of snow into a detritus-filled crust. Cast shadows from a stand of birches show these textures.

Seeing What's Not There - Day 17

Silhouettes in a Spruce 

Silhouettes and Shadows

-  in a small spruce tree         

At what point do shadows turn into silhouettes? The filagree of a screen of spruce boughs catches the light in places and creates a prickly shadow pattern in others. 

Seeing What's Not There - Day 15

Shadows from an Alderbush

Alder Bushes in Sunshine

-  create a tangle of shadows on the snow.         

Alders are tough grow-anywhere plants that curve and wiggle their way into whatever patches of sunshine they can grow into. On a white snow background, the branches and cones of a wintertime alder bush make a complex shadow design.    

Seeing What's Not There - Day 14

Shadows on the Opposite Shoreline

Shadows Along the Riverbank

-  define the shore of the island.         

The river runs through sand and the islands dotted through it do not have much elevation above the water. The shadows from the trees define the height of the land against the level of the river ice.  

Seeing What's Not There - Day 12

Shadows on Birchbark

Shadows and a Sunny Glow

- from the birchbark on a mature treetrunk.         

The winter takes its toll on the outer layers of birchbark. The wind shreds it, and the frost splits it, and the coming and going of daytime sunshine expands and contracts it. And the shadows from bright sunshine enhance the textures of the birchbark and the volume of the tree trunk. 

Seeing What's Not There - Day 11

Shadows on a Melting Snowbank II

Reflections and Shadows 

- on the ridges of a melting snowbank, from another angle.         

The snow is melting in the daytime and crystalizing into ice in the night time cold. In the daytime the snowbanks melt into ridges, and the cast shadows from the trees pick out the ups and downs of the surface. Meanwhile, the ice crystals sparkle as the sunlight reflects off them.   

Seeing What's Not There - Day 10

Shadows on a Melting Snowbank   

Reflections and Shadows 

- on the ridges of a melting snowbank.         

The snow is melting in the daytime and crystalizing into ice in the night time cold. In the daytime the snowbanks melt into ridges, and the cast shadows from the trees pick out the ups and downs of the surface. Meanwhile, the ice crystals sparkle as the sunlight reflects off them.   

Seeing What's Not There - Day 8

Morning Shadows in the Snow  

Stripes on the Snow

- early in the morning on a sunny day.         

One of the things I enjoy about snow is how it makes a great backdrop for shadows. In the low-angle sunlight of early morning, tree trunks make stripes of purple-blue across the bank of fresh snow.