The light of the polar night Photo

Photographer’s Note

The polar night is not completely dark.
This is Tromsø at New Year`s eve, just a few minutes after 1 PM. This kind of light last for about 4 hours a day in the middle of the winter.
The sun is gone for 2 months in this city, from 21. november until 21. january, with some minor annual variations.

From Wikipedia:
"The polar night is the night lasting more than 24 hours, usually inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, when the sun stays above the horizon for a long time is called the polar day, or midnight sun.

A common misconception is that at each point inside the polar circle, or that at each place where midnight sun occurs, the shortest day is totally dark. Because of twilight, this is not the case. In places very close to the poles this is true, but in areas very close to the Arctic and Antarctic Circle, midnight sun is experienced, but polar night is never experienced. In fact, polar regions typically get more light throughout the year than regions located closer to the equator.

In regions inside the polar circles, the length of the time when the sun is below the horizon varies from 20 hours at the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle to 179 days at the Poles. However not all this time is classified as polar night, since there may be plenty of sunlight because of refraction. Also, one might notice that the time when the sun is above the horizon at the poles is said to be 186 days. The asymmetry in numbers is because the time when the sun is partially above the horizon is counted towards the "daytime"."

jusninasirun, parbo, kiwi_explorer, dip, asajernigan, PixelTerror, trekks, Buin, gunbud, jhm, Tue has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lousat (15376) 2008-01-20 14:53

Very beautifull pic,perfect exposure timing and much interesting note,thanks for share your work,have a nice day,Luciano

ChrisNorman (415) 2008-01-20 15:02 [Comment]

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gracious (20017) 2008-01-20 17:46

Hello my friend Jon,
My compliment towards your beautiful gallery of 17 photos, and you are a good landscape photographer indeed!
as for this one is no exception, a very pleasing presentation with good sharpness, awesome colouration and exact details in the composition!
very well done, Jon!
see you soon
greeting from NZ
Tony

parbo (10970) 2008-01-20 17:54

Hello Jon,

This one is on of my most desirable scene for me but you already captured excellently. I like sunset color through silhouttes and rare lights on buildings are that increases your photo's value.

Mother nature is giving different beauty to everyone. Here, only tropical summer all years.Yes, we have four seasons but slightly different. Like;

Long Rainy Season
Less Rainy Season
Short Rainy Season
Much Rainy Season

Life is still same...

Many cheers you to all.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-01-21 0:11

Hi Jon,
The lighting management here is just superb ... just enough contrast to make the details still visible. You've captured this beautiful scene wonderfully. Well composed with good dramatic twilight effect. Excellent work! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

dip (12584) 2008-01-21 0:19

Hi Jon,
very beautiful and interesting image with impressive lighting and good POV,
informative note too,
Thanks for sharing,
Dimitris.

pablominto (40712) 2008-01-21 1:08

Hello Jon,
And this is about the brightest light you get in the middle of the day on New Year's Eve, good thing light is rapidly improving now!
But of course this is an exotic photo opportunity, and you capture the mood well...
The little light there is reflects well off the calm sea!
Greetings,
Pablo -

asajernigan (14132) 2008-01-21 5:41

Jon,
This is a fine photo with good sharpness and definition. Your light management is fine blending both natural and artificial lighting to create a nice photo. The note is outstanding and appreciated.
TFS,
Asa

PixelTerror (86124) 2008-01-21 10:14

Hei Jon,
We've heard about this phenomena of course but it's impressive to see it in pixels... do somehow people suffer from this winter lack of sunlight ?
Thanks to this warm coloration we can see it was a nice winter day, but on the edges of the mountains I can see a small halo telling about your PP, for such adjustements it's better to do it on a RAW file you'll get the same result without the halo.
Have a nice evening JY

Cretense (56136) 2008-01-23 4:57

Hi Jon!

Incredible "sunset" photo around midnight!!! Excellent composition, excellent POV and composition, beautiful light managmetn and most important a very special atmosphere! Congratulations and thanks for sharing this unique spectacle!

Best regards,
Hercules

Moyano (163) 2008-01-23 5:44

Beautiful view with excellent exposure. That deep orange above the dark mountain slope is magnificent. Great work, congrats!

Natalia

trekks (14314) 2008-01-24 5:16

Lovely view and good pov for this well composed landscape. I like the glow of sky.

The mood and tone of the urban center and the mountains behind, making it a good perspective.

Great work. TFS
bill

chanjits (4409) 2008-01-25 5:03

nice shot well composed colors are marvelous thanks for sharing

Buin (37656) 2008-01-25 12:05

Hallo Jon!
A truly beautiful picture of this great city! I've been there some years ago - but while midnight sun. Your photo gives a wonderful impression of this winter light and an impression of the magnificence of the surroundings of Tromsoe.
I like this one very much!
Greetings - and a nice weekend!
Frank

emka (21466) 2008-01-25 14:01

Hi Jon,
You have wonderful photos from far north. I like all of them very much. This picture of Tromso during polar night is very interesting and beautiful. I am happy to meet here someone from Norway. Regards

Malgorzata

gunbud (27879) 2008-01-27 18:23

Hi Jon,
Lovely golden lilght from this brief winter twilight that is wonderfully complimented by the slate blue of the mountains and the calm sea. It is strange to see a city lit at 1 in the afternoon. Very informative note.
Regards, Tom

jusninasirun (10203) 2008-01-28 22:07

Hello Jon,
Thanks for sharing this because I know that I won't be able to see it for real.

The illumination of the city and the superb sky just enough to shine the night there.

Regards,
Jusni

jrj (34779) 2008-01-31 3:09

Very dark, but still quite good mood in this compo from Tromsø Jon. The scaterred pints of light very good for the total result

jhm (82545) 2008-01-31 3:18

Hello Jon,

I've this never seen the polar night and not completely dark.
You show us a very lively image about this wonderful country of you.
Excellent contrast but the pink colours to the sky are very nice.
Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,
John.

Tue (25608) 2008-02-24 16:16

Hi Jon,
Great shot from the polar night in Tromsø. The warm, golden hue in the sky is great and a beautiful contrast to the dark and cold foreground. Nice to see some lights of the city too. Well composed photo, thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Lars