June 20: Perfect morning light
Jun. 20th, 2010 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neverspentOn Saturday morning, I got up earlier than one would like, for a Saturday -- 6:30, at the insistence of my cat. Once I looked out the window, though, I wasn't sorry. There was dew on the grass and the light was as clear as I've ever seen it in summer. I went outside, barefoot, toting my camera. While looking through the view finder — I don't know if I would have noticed otherwise -- I discovered that the colors were so pure and brilliant, things almost looked plastic. Did I not expect nature to have colors so intense?
I think it's just that the light rarely lets me see those colors. Later in the day, the sun is so strong, I have to wear sunglasses or close my eyes, so I see darkened colors or something so washed out it's barely visible through my squint. At other times of year and times of day, the angle of the sun is different, the color of the light is different. It affects how things look. Not in a bad way ‐ my favorite light is the long, amber slant of light. But at that moment, before 7 in the morning at just about midsummer, the sun was already high but not too strong. It was perfectly complementary to the colors of the earth. It loved them.
I think it's just that the light rarely lets me see those colors. Later in the day, the sun is so strong, I have to wear sunglasses or close my eyes, so I see darkened colors or something so washed out it's barely visible through my squint. At other times of year and times of day, the angle of the sun is different, the color of the light is different. It affects how things look. Not in a bad way ‐ my favorite light is the long, amber slant of light. But at that moment, before 7 in the morning at just about midsummer, the sun was already high but not too strong. It was perfectly complementary to the colors of the earth. It loved them.