Lighting Observation 2

1) January 26, 6:52 PM; Vanderpoel

2) The streetlights illuminated the street outside my window

3) Again, I was taking pictures of the snowstorm when I stumbled on an interesting piece of lighting. The road to Nassau/Suffolk and the parking lot outside of Lib/Rep was completely white with snow. The streetlamps were little balls of yellow light suspended above the road. Their stalks disappeared against the trees. The lights looked floating and magical and cast yellow light on the snow which diffused into an orange-purple color. A car drove down the road, casting blue headlights in contrast with the yellow light. I began to wonder about our different points of view. From my point of view, the lights seemed so pluckable and tiny. I wondered if the driver had enough light to see as he moved from light so shadow. I wondered about how we go through the day, using light from below the source and taking for granted that it fills up the air around us, while from above the source of light is so fragile.

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lighting Observation 1

1) January 27, 5:33 PM; Adams Quad

2) A tall tree casts a shadow with the light from Bits & Bytes.

3) The night after Snowmageddon, I left my room to take pictures of the aftermath to show friends and family. After wandering around North Campus for a while and not being impressed by anything, I walked to the south side of campus in search of some interesting shots. I cut across the snow-covered quad to get a more inclusive picture of the expansive white snow, but I was stopped by a breathtaking view of a tree outside Bits & Bytes. The light from the building was pale yellow and highlighted the snow with its warm color. The icicles hanging on the long Bits window blurred the view of the inside. It wasn’t entirely night yet, so the sky was royal blue and the branches of the trees that stretched above Memorial Hall were black and silhouetted, with pieces of yellow light getting caught in the web. The same yellow light shone on the base of the tree which cast a blue shadow on the snow. I snapped a picture excitedly, and felt my goal shift. Instead of taking pictures of the effects of the snow, I took more pictures of shadows and interesting contrasts.

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Photo Observation: Jesse (and Emily Dickinson)

Sunrise1

 

Theme: Sunrise/Sunset

There are a lot of beautiful sunrise pictures out there, but I chose this one because it reminds me of one of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems:

“Will there really be a morning? Is there such a thing as day?
Could I see it from the mountains if I were as tall as they?
Has it feet like water-lilies as it feathers like a bird?
Does it come from famous countries of which I have never heard?
Oh, some scholar! Oh, some sailor! Oh, some wise man from the skies!
Please to tell this little pilgrim where the place called morning lies!”

There is something so hopeful and refreshing about this sunrise. The way the rising sun illuminates the haze over the field in the distance, and pours its light over the mountains is nothing short of majestic.

 

Posted in Photo Observation | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Photo Observation: Urban Sunset

tumblr_ncv8hlEAQf1tqcxlro1_r1_500

 

From: http://pedromgabriel.tumblr.com/post/108438586762/what-a-wonderful-surprise-redbubble

Theme: Sunrise/Sunset

I love this photo because of the contrast between the sky and the urban town. The sunset casts a calming glow on everything which seems not to match the setting. This looks like a place that should be full of human activity, but instead it’s subdued and no people can be seen. I love the way the sun rays burst out from behind the clouds. Whenever that effect happens in the sky, it makes me think of divinity. Because of that, it seems like the town is watched over by God or some angel, and makes the place seem magical and almost fairy-tale-like.

 

Posted in Photo Observation | Leave a comment

Light Observation #1

1) 2/5/2015, 7pm, My apartment NYC.

2) Dark room, light coming in through frosted window from street lamp through tree.

3) Sitting in my darkened kitchen on the 3rd floor I stare out the window partially covered with frost, a sickly off-orange light spills in silhouetting empty tree branches. The branch shadows appear to be fingers grasping at and attempting to tickle the jagged edges of the frost, moving slightly and silently back and forth in the wind. At once evoking contradictory feelings of both calm and creepy unease. The motion is hypnotic…

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Photo Observation: Sunset

Hawaiian Sunset

From: http://toptenland.com/the-ten-best-sunsets-around-the-world/

Theme: Sunset/Sunrise

I picked this photo because I just booked tickets to spend a week in Hawaii after the semester ends. Staring at this photo helps make the current weather drift away a little, dreaming of being away from the snow, ice and sub zero temperatures.  I have a calming feeling of sitting at a luau with a coconut filled with some exotic Hawaiian drink and a little umbrella. The silhouette of the palm trees against the orange purple sky has a very majestic feeling.

 

Posted in Photo Observation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lighting Observation 1

1. January 27, 2015, 2:00 a.m.

2. The night sky

3. I was in the backyard of my friends’ house during the snowstorm. The snow had stopped momentarily and for several minutes there was complete silence. The smooth snow cover reflected the light from the sky. Although it was the middle of the night, the saturated night sky absorbed all of the light pollution from the city and the surrounding areas. The sky was a matte lavender color and there was a low, flat light covering everything.

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lighting Observation 1

1) Sunday, 2/1/14 at 7:14 am
2) Sunrise
3) Some nights I’m nocturnal. On Sunday I stayed up long enough to watch an especially beautiful sunrise from my window. The sky turned rosy pink and the light seeping into my room was intense enough to tint the walls and everything else in between. I opened the blinds and let it all in. I can only think to describe the mood the light created as peaceful. I’m not used to seeing my room bathed in pink light. I knew it would only last so long so I sat back and soaked in the moments before everything got brighter.

Posted in Light Observation | Comments Off on Lighting Observation 1

Lighting Observation #1 (or, Grizabella Moment)

1) Friday, 1/30/15, at 11:20pm.

2) A streetlamp in Colonial Square on a freezing night

3) I was doing a particularly miserable round of my complex, as I had the misfortune of being the RA on duty last night. One sight that almost made the frigid cold bearable was the poetic way that the streetlamp outside Williamsburg House, whose light was guttering and flickering in the wind, illuminated the path. Had there not been snow on the ground, the glow would have been lost on grass. It was eerie and desolate-looking, and reminded me of Grizabella’s song from CATS:

“Every streetlamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters, and the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning”

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Lighting Observation

1) Thursday 5/1/14, 1:30 am, Intramural Field

2) Field Lights

3) The intramural field was severely flooded and looked almost like a lake. The lights from the field lights were on and are kind of bright by themselves. However, this night, the lights were reflecting off of the now lake intramural field. It created a very interesting look as the ground was very bright.

Posted in Light Observation | Tagged | Leave a comment