Sunburst

IMG_0002, originally uploaded by camellia35.

While I was living in California, one of the most beautiful (yet rare) optical phenomenon I would see was a halo. A perfect, circular rainbow (or icebow, technically) surrounding the sun; caused by ice crystals in high, thin cirrus clouds. In Iowa, a much more common, somewhat more majestic event are crepuscular rays. The bright streaks of light caused by gaps between clouds or peaks that are usually seen near sunset. You can see a broad swath of them radiating out from the sun in a V-shape pointing either up or down (depending on position) or in the form of an angled column. With the near-constant late-afternoon storms in the area you see them often.

Everyone's seen them; if not in person then on inspirational posters and book covers everywhere. That's why I tend not to photograph them unless I can find an uncommonly beautiful composition, or it's uncommonly weird.

It's a little bit of both with the above photo. This might not be the final version that I'll end up hanging sometime, but it is a little odd. It may not be all that clear at such a small size, but the light is radiating outward from the sun in all directions. The clouds are casting shadows directly between the sun and the viewer (er, me), not down towards the ground some distance away, or toward the viewer from a narrower angle. It wasn't that late in the day; around 3:00. Something about the air here makes the light streaks more visible. Something about the humidity, or perhaps a particulate. In any event, it's another example of how beautiful the Iowan sky can be.