Nature's Beauty

Wheat in Sunrise

This is a beautiful picture of wheat in the countryside during sunrise. The sky contains red, blue, and yellow - all primary colors - but in softer, more pastel-like tones. At the edge of each primary stripe in the sky, you can see that the colors mix to make secondary colors like purple, orange, and green. The stalks of wheat are a magnificent teal color tinged with a cerulean blue that you can also spot in the sky's clouds.

Foggy Field

This picture is full of muted tones which give the picture a tired, dreary. The trees in the distance are backlit, so they provide dark silhouettes in contrast to the sharply focused grass in the foreground. There is not much light in the picture, but what light there is highlights the grass in the foreground. This picture makes me think of a countryside scene from Harry Potter.

Lighting in Nature: Naturally Interesting

I find this picture really interesting because of the color of the sunrise. The yellow and orange light creates a brilliant contrast between the red rock and soil and the green vegetation. The warm color brings out the reds making the green, cool colors, much brighter. You are also able to tell that it is coming from the right side of the picture based on the shadows.

The bright light in combination with the snow has a very refreshing or energizing feeling to it. I really like how bright this photo is because of the color and reflection of light. I was also drawn to the interesting pattern created by the tree shadows. The light source is also unseen in this photo but it is more difficult to pinpoint its location using shadows.

The lighting in this photo creates a feeling of naturalness, and with the way the light passes through the tree on the left really does help to increase this feeling. The minute amount of light that passes through the tree specifically does promote this, but it also is just a nice effect with. I really just love the aesthetic and the palette that the photo contains.

This photo's lighting is much softer and creates a much cooler tone than the last photo. The great thing about this photo, is the color palette is pretty uniform, and the lighting helps with keeping this consistent. The other nice thing about the lighting in this photo is that it helps make the central point of the photo be the main focus, makes it seem much more unique, and overall it just makes it "pop".

Lighting in nature as seen by Ivan

This is a picture of the Houston skyline taken by yours truly. Both the shadow of the clouds as well as the shadows of the buildings suggest the sun is on the left side. There is a clear distinction between the lit side of each building and the unlit, yet every building is entirely visible and there is no side that is too dark.


The Northrup building is lit by the sun in a similar fashion to my first picture.The top part of the building is more lit than the floor, so if this was a stage, the focus would be on the top of the building. The windows reflect some of the light, which increases the total amount of light seen in the picture.

I like that the land is being backlit by the sun, and that there is a reflection on the water. I think the light from the setting sun helps give off a calm, relaxed feeling. The orangish-yellow color from the sun also gives off a warm and friendly feeling.

This photo also has the sunlight in the background so that the flowers are backlit. However, I like that the we don't see the flowers just as black silhouettes. I think the sunlight that reflects off the flowers helps give off a romantic feel.

The soft haze of the light on the right side of the photo provides interesting contrast with the darker left. Along with this, the intensity of the light hitting the flower makes the petals translucent and fragile-looking, highlighting how delicate things in nature like flowers are. 

The intensity of the moonlight makes this dark, intimidating landscape look almost hopeful--the single bit of crazily bright light calls back to biblical imagery of God, providing light and comfort for those who are lost. 

The darkness of the trees, contrasted with the bright light from the sun which illuminates the walkway. This does a very good job of portraying a "light at the end of a tunnel", or even a biblical reference in nature "seeing the light" type of feel.

The way in which the sun provides backlight for the spiderweb, allows the web itself to glow and, I think, highlight the small things in nature.

Lighting in Nature (Briahn Hawkins)

I am a huge fan of silhouettes, so having the natural light make out the silhouette of the moose is beautiful to me. The color of the lighting also gives off an "early morning" mood.

The trees cover the majority of the sunlight except for the area at the end of the road shown. Because of that, the given sunlight provides a theme of "light at the end of the tunnel."

This is a picture taken in Arches National Park on July 13, 2016  near sunset.  If you look carefully, you can see the shadow of a tree cast on the left side of the arch.  I like the bright "spots" of sun and the reflected glow created under the arch. The color variation of the trees from sunlit to shadow is interesting.

Nothing quite like a good sunset.  I am always amazed when I watch the colors on clouds change during sunsets.  There can be so much variation.  This was taken in Big Bend National Park December 26, 2005.