Sunrise in Boulder, Colorado
2) Photo taken on April 15, 2006. Photography by Craig Christopher in Boulder, Colorado.
3) THEME: Sunrises and Sunsets
4) DESCRIPTION: Colorado is a state overwhelmed with natural beauty. Roughly one half, the eastern half, is the plains. Simple yet beautiful. On the Western half there are great mountains offering landscapes and beautiful scenery for hundreds of square miles. The human race is fascinated with all that nature has to offer, from the tall mountains to the deep oceans and the grassy meadows to the rocky cliffs. People travel thousands of miles just to see certain spots on earth. Every evening, landscapes become enhanced all over the world as the sun sets and casts long, warmly lit shadows across the land. It is at this time that nature is enhanced and the shapes and contours of the world around us are modeled and emphasized by the beautiful light on the horizon provides for us. In Hawaii people flock from their condos each night to watch the golden ball of fire fall from bright yellow into a orange and red glow as it sets behind the ocean. When the sun returns the next morning there is always a new set of tourists and locals alike perched high above the clouds on volcanoes watching the first beams of light cast their warm shadows across the landscape in a similar way to the night before as the orange sun meets the blue sky once more.
In Colorado, many Denver Broncos fans comment on how “God must be a Bronco fan, otherwise why would the sunsets be orange and blue.” Sunsets and sunrises are universal in the fact that they happen all over the world, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There is always only one sunrise and one sunset in each day. The sun is always the same relative distance from earth each day and is burning energy in the same way; however just like a snowflake, no two sunrises or sunsets are the same. What makes a sunrise worth mentioning is when the air is pretty clear and there are a few puffy and interesting clouds in the sky. The true draw of a sunrise is not usually the actual vision of the light from the sun, but rather the lights reflection off of the particles in the air and the reflection of the colors on the clouds and other surfaces reflecting light.
What I really like about this sunrise is that it is different from the typical sunrise one might think of. In Colorado there are over 300 days of sunshine each year. If a storm of any kind moves in, it will never last long as the sun will burn off the clouds quickly and warm the air and cause the day to become very nice. This picture was taken just as the first few rays of sunlight were cresting the horizon. It had rained all night and the pollution in the air had been taken out by the rain and the air was clear and crisp. The clouds were just beginning to break and loosen up as the sun was rising. Unlike most “beautiful” sunrises and sunsets, there weren’t any big puffy clouds and rich blue sky; instead the clouds were heavy and dark and kept most of the sky black until it was thoroughly enriched by the sun’s rays. With the Sky being black it helps give a lot of contrast to the very rich and intense yellows and oranges brought out by the sun and it crests the horizon. The oranges and yellows of the light are so incredibly intense that they make the image feel as though it is being warmed. There is a great contrast with this intense light and the silhouettes of the naked cotton wood trees in the foreground. The lack of leaves on the trees gives a clearer silhouette and also creates a temperature contrast showing that it is most likely winter but the feeling the viewer gets from the colors is that the image is almost on fire. Coming back to the uniqueness of this sunrise brings me to a closing statement. Yes, I am a Colorado native and am proud to call it home, and despite how many people think that Tim Tebow is a god and is very close to Jesus I prefer to look at sunsets that remind me more of an october sky, a sky of orange and black.
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