Introduction
Photographers talk of the blue hour before sunrise and after sunset. Similarly there is the golden hour after sunrise and before sunset. These times are valued because the color palette at the beginning and end of daylight is different from the one we are used to seeing during the ordinary daytime hours.
But I believe that the ordinary hours of the day also have beauty. I welcome the challenge of finding wonder between the blue and golden hours that bookend the regular daylight hours. Photography is far too much fun to restrict only for special times.
Such was the situation on December 15, 2023. The solstice Sun was low in the sky on a cloudless day here in the Salt Lake Valley. Here are some scenes from that noon:
Hibernating Bush against the Neighbors’ Foundation
I was looking out the window as I was washing dishes when the very drabness of the scene first grabbed my attention. The low lying noon Sun was coming directly from the right.
River Rocks
Thanks to The Home Depot and my spouse, these Mexican river rocks now rest in Utah.
Allium Seed Head
How long will this seed head endure? It has already survived one snow storm.
Maple Leaf Trapped in Lavender Bush
The sun nearly at solstice provides the backlighting.
Neighbor’s Gas Meter
Two of my brothers had successful careers with the local natural gas company. One brother worked in IT and the other as an appliance expert. Both had started as meter readers. Sometimes when the three of us were in a car, they would excitedly converse about the makes and models of the meters they were observing on houses even as the automobile zoomed by at some distance. Good times!
Maple Tree in Winter
That blue sky is the real deal (or as we Utahns say, “rill dill”) and not courtesy of Photoshop. You can see this Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum) in all its red glory as it appeared during the fall of 2021 here.
Shadows on Concrete
I took this photograph to feature the shadows cast by objects both inside and outside the frame.
Personifying of the Sun
One of the pleasures of photography is recording the art of others. Here some anonymous artist has captured the cheerful motion of the Sun with this piece that dresses up the outside of our house.
I welcome your comments.
Thank you for visiting Thecosmos.blog.
Michael DeCaria
Questing for wonder through photography