Ray of Light Photo

Photographer’s Note

Description:
Sun pillars are vertical rays of light above or below the sun.In most cases only the upper sun pillar is visible.It is of about the same diameter and colour as the sun.The upper sun pillar can be observed best short after sunset.Then it looks as if the light beam of a bright searchlight is going up vertically from the horizon. At sunset its colour is a kind of orange—white. Some minutes after sunset the pillar becomes more and more orange-red and fades at about 20 to 60 minutes after sunset.
When the sun pillar is fully developed,it sometimes has a diffusely en1arged top. That is the upper tangent arc, the “arms” of which form a sharp angle at low sun elevations. In freezing fog, a sun pillar can be more than 30° long. In many cases, however, there is a pillar of only 5 to 10° visible.
When the upper and lower sun pillars are visible together with a part of the parhelic circle,
a cross is formed in the sky. In medieval times, such an impressive phenomenon was often considered a sign of God.

Formation:
Sun pillars are caused by the reflection of sunlight on the base ends of
rotating plate—shaped and on the prism faces of rotating column—shaped ice crystals.
Sun pillars also require ice crystals oscillating around their vertical axis.
Sun pillars can also be caused by snow crystals.
The formation of a sun pillar can be compared with the path of light (glitter path)
formed by the setting sun on a wavy water surface.

http://www.meteoros.de/arten/ee08e.htm

ALIRIZA, shirgold, ktanska, lucinka, plimrn, yigalco, TeresaT, kmarscher, JonteW, pilpel-adom, Emiel_Skyfreak, Shoot_Score has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ALIRIZA (16195) 2006-03-29 4:31

Hello David!
Wonderful sunset capture.POV,warm colors, framing, contrast and composition are excellent.TFS...
Ali Rıza

ktanska (16393) 2006-03-29 4:59

Hi David,
Beautiful sunset. Orange clouds and blue sky make a good combination. And snow looks nice too, with some visible tracks. Good note too explaining the pillar.
Kari

shirgold (2439) 2006-03-29 5:00

Hi David,
Beautiful capture of this interesting phenomenon
I like the way you placed the sun on the right side of the frame
TFS - Shir

lucinka (9864) 2006-03-29 7:47

David, very nicely composed very peaceful scene. That front part looks more like a sea than field covered in snow. Well done.L.

plimrn (19558) 2006-03-29 9:45

Hello David,
So is it snow or is it water?

In any case I learned a lot from from your note after I enjoyed your wonderful sunrise. Sunset?

You have captured the glowing clouds in lovely detail. There is no overexpossure or sun flare in the flaming sun and pillar and as Shir has said, the position of the sun in the composition is very pleasing.
Regards, Pat

imrek (4) 2006-03-29 12:56

Hi David,
Beautiful sunset and very nicely composed, good work!
best regards
imre

amstel (2229) 2006-04-24 16:22

Hi David,
Great tone of colours, stunning shift from darker side to the brighter on the left.
Cheers!

TeresaT (10727) 2006-05-22 19:02

Hi David,
I like this one.
Beautiful and romantic composition.
Perfect colours and light.
Regards
Teresa

pilpel-adom (3016) 2006-09-16 4:28

Hello again...
;)
Never knew about this natural phenomenon (another thing I learnt today!) - impressive! I like the composition here and also the composition choice with off centering and a lower POV (Was it lower?). The wide angle works very well, getting the feeling of depth. I can only guess what a desolate place it is...
10x for sharing!
Chen

Emiel_Skyfreak (2976) 2006-10-13 7:11

Lovely shot, I like the composition here, also a good border is chosen. Like the far away from center placing of the sun, really nice spot. Indeed a lovely phenomenon with a sky with lovely coloured clouds, adding a nice warm details. Also like the sea with the lines going through the photo.
Very useful note!
Excellent share!

Shoot_Score (650) 2007-01-01 2:04

David, after posting several sun pillars I also recently discovered the shot you put on TN.

I have included a link in my Notes, amd I trust this meets with your approval. Have a look here.

It is not clear to me from your Notes whether we are looking at a sunrise or a sunset pillar here... I'd be interested in learning more.

Shaloom, Jay

gunbud (27523) 2007-02-20 19:40

Hi David,
Another stunning sunset/winter landscape photo from your Finland collection. Beautiful sky with soft blue and golden clouds. The sun shines the drifting snow to set up lovely patterns,
Regards, Tom