Drama 16 Stage Lighting

2. Cadillac Mountain Sunrise by Chuck Kime, http://www.flickr.com/photos/30652603@N07/4904579623/

3. Sunrises/Sunsets

4. This photo was take of the sunrise view from Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine. The top of Cadillac Mountain is the first place in the continental US to see the sun every morning, and people gather there at 4:00 AM to meet and greet the day. The lighting in this photo is especially incredible as it moves in solid layers of bright color all the way down the view. The top is the new-day blue of sky just touched by the sun, on top of an almost greenish patch that is so light as to be unnoticeable. Under that are the true sunshine colors of sunflowers, blood oranges, lilacs, and just at the center is a spot of the hottest pink ever seen in nature surrounding the tangerine half circle of the sun. Below that the blue of the atlantic is covered by a layer of early morning mist, creating a dull greyish blue that makes the near neon of the above colors stand out even more. the bottom of the picture is framed with the bright green of spring trees, which creates the final stripe of color. This view in itself is astonishing because of the nearly unreal richness and brightness of the colors. While many sunrises are thought of in swatches of pastels, they can be just as bright and overwhelming as bloody red sunsets.

1) January 30, 2012. 8:00 am. My dorm room

2) Dena Kline

3) Sunsets or Sunrises

4) Seeing a sunrise is a thing of beauty. The majority of the population, specifically looking at college, does not get up until the sun has risen into the sky. The sunrise brings the beginning of a new day and it shows the beauty of the world. Watching the sun rise in the morning is nothing like watching the sun set at night. Sunsets give me a feeling of romance while the sunrise gives me a feeling of hope. This hopeful feeling is truly indescribable.

In my opinion, sunsets look the same: the red and purple colors paint the sky as the yellow orange sun drops below the horizon for the darkness of the night to appear. The crimson and violet hues beaming softly out is obnoxiously over-rated. Sunrises, however, are constantly changing. Even if you were to see a sunrise in the same location, the look of the sunrise is different from the previous day or time you saw it. For example, I have been to Israel numerous times and have went with the same touring company most of the time. They take their groups to a Bedouin village for a learning experience. The next morning, the group will wake up at 3:00 am, take an hour long bus ride to Mount Masada, hike up the mountain for a sight that warms your heart: the sunrise. These groups rush up the mountain because missing this sunrise would be devastating. This picture was taken during my first trip to Israel on Mount Masada. The sun was rising over the horizon faster than I (or anyone else in my group) had expected. The sun was soft and and gentle so early in the morning, only to become the sharp and harsh light of the Negev (desert in Israel). I had never seen a sunrise such as this before. The light was barely beginning to reflect off of the Dead Sea’s waters. The golden yellow light was radiating into (what felt like) my soul. As the sun continued to rise, the light was spreading onto the vastness of the land of the desert. The morning was peaceful as our group descended down the mountain to experience the sensation of the Dead Sea. Later that day as I lay floating on the water, I looked up at the sun and felt warmth and joy inside.

2. Photography of QT Luong

http://www.terragalleria.com/photo/?id=hale20929&subject=wild-scenics

3. Sunsets or Sunrises

4. With the busy and seemingly endless lives that we all control, it is easy for one to become blind to natural beauty. We live in a world of where anything that we want,we create. Think about your life and all of the artificial elements that surround us. Clothing, appearances, health, and even food, we have grown accustomed to all of this being “man-made” and the list can go on and on. Now throw that out of your mind and concentrate on all of the natural elements in your life. Some may say appearance, but not all. The list seems so much more limited, which is upsetting. I am guilty of this too. But there is one natural element left in all of our lives. It is the two promises or guarentees that exist for everyone, the sun will always rise and the sun will always set.

Sunrises to me are very calming. They mark the beginning of a new day, another chance to leave our mark on this Earth. I spent countless hours on StumbleUpon Tuesday night and Wednesday night trying to find the perfect example of a sunrise (As I write this at 2 in the morning), and I believe I came pretty close with the one above. When I found this picture, I expanded it to cover the whole screen on my laptop. I then sat alone in my room and stared at it for a long time, to reflect and meditate on the blissful image of new light. The perfect yellow as it pushes the clouds away had a hypnotizing effect on me. As I looked closer I noticed the serene waves at the foot of a green covered cliff. All the plant life was reflecting their color from the brightness of the sun. The green was calm and tamed, not too bright to see the full color but not too dark to see barely any. Their was an equilibrium between the two. A sunrise is much more than a ball of fire coming into view, but a gift of emotion and meditation. The feelings one can receive from this picture are immense. I imagine sitting on the cliff overlooking this sunset, the light is shining bright as it first arises above the sea. The white clouds retain some of the yellow color and acts like a border for the sun. The mixture of the two causes one to let go of all their anxiety and stay speechless and thoughtless. These are natural colors with natural feelings. I could only imagine how I could imitate this with stage lighting to get the same emotions that I felt, from an audience.

This sunrise is a perfect example of the theme and not just because it is technically a sunrise. It is a perfect example because of the feelings and emotions that surround it. It deserves the title of a sunrise because of the natural hypnotizing colors. It completes every job a sunrise should have, hypnotizing the spectator by capturing them in raw emotion. When we are in such a state it is much easier to think at a higher level due to our exuberant emotions. Sunrises can be inspiring, soothing, a perfect set to incubate ideas. It can cause one to feel so energized and powerful as the one above did to me. There was a moment of peace, not worrying about a grade or if this description is too long, but a true reflection on my life and all that I have accomplished or tried to accomplish. After meditating on this picture, I believe it let me reach a point of transcendence – going beyond ordinary limits.