Week 38 - Morning Rays

Ray of Light

A visit to New York's Lower Hudson Valley and daily early morning walks with my daughter and grandson, camera in hand. Since the Fall colors were not yet at their peak, I didn't feel short-changed shooting in black and white. Instead, the brisk and damp morning air under a canopy of trees enabled a trick of the light.

Nature, as well as lens optics, provided a refracted beam of light. The shaft of light was, in fact, visible and is what drew my attention. Sun flare introduced by the camera can be considered an optical flaw. But such rules aren't carved in stone. Instead, we can use lens flare to accent what nature is providing.

While there are specific scenes I often photograph, trees, etc., I think of them more as subjects than objects. Here the taller shrubs and bushes lit by the low morning light are the object. But as is often the case, the theme is moments of transition—Summer to Autumn and night to day.

Presenting the image in black and white accentuates this transition. The eye perceives light and dark rather than green and white.

f5.6 1/250 sec ISO 320 September 24, 2022