I must admit, the last several days have been so beautiful and warm and have had a bit of that spring 'smell' in the air so that all I feel like doing is planning holidays and heading towards a nice relaxing Christmas break...
Of course, I've got a ways to go yet (4 months to be exact!)
But as much as I'm looking forward to spring and even summer (since there is such as thing as air conditioning), I must admit I'm always just a little sad to see winter go. We really do have the very best winters here in Australia. Apart from maybe a month somewhere in the middle there where it actually does get cold, our winters are pretty much summers - but without all of the heat and humidity.
But the thing I absolutely love the most about our winters, is the light. We have the most perfect light in winter. I've googled to try and figure out why this is and I still don't have a scientific answer (I assume it's got something to do with the sunshine and dry air?), but it's definitely anecdotally true: I work with a lot of cameramen, and it's a given in 'the industry' that if you want to shoot something/someone at it's absolutely best, you'll always shoot it in winter. You get a beautiful crsip image with colours that really pop. All because of the gorgeous light.
So grab your cameras and take advantage of these last few days of winter light, and then head inside to your computers, and start planning those summer vacations! Yay!
xo Tammy
I had no idea that the light was better in winter! I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that our weather is really dry in winter?? What's the bet Mum's onto this mystery? :) And I am soooo excited about the feel of Spring coming!!!! :) xo
ReplyDeleteI heard an interesting interview on the radio recently, with a man who travels in China occasionally. (I think he was with the government?) He mentioned that the sky in China, while he was there, was always smoggy and overcast. One day a young boy wanted to talk to him about the 'blue sky' that he had heard we have in Australia. The man acknowledged that Australia does usually have blue sky. "But I'm sure you have blue sky here too," the man commented. "No, no blue sky," said the boy. Apparently in his entire life he had never, ever seen blue sky. Hardly believing this could be true, the man asked around. It was true. The sky in many parts of China is never, ever blue! Can you imagine it? It made me (and the man in the interview), particularly grateful for what we have here in Oz!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Haha, I just read your comment, Abs! From what I can understand it probably has to do with the air being clearer and the angle of the sun being lower in the sky.. But I am going to be researching it now! :) This is what I found on one website about photography:
ReplyDelete'The angle of the sun on the horizon is smaller during wintertime, creating numerous pleasing effects for photographers, such as a prolonged period of the magic hour.
We refer to the magic hour as the time around sunrise or sunset, when most of the light is reflected and the direct light of the sun passes through a lot more atmosphere, thus filtering out the harsh neutral or blue cast.
Throughout the entire day, the sun will never reach a high zenith, always illuminating our subjects at a much more pleasing angle. Summer sun often causes extreme shadows and contrast and the lighting shifts more towards blue tones.
Due to the low angle of the sun, textures will look three-dimensional and become alive and shadows will be long and deep. We can use shadows to support our main subject, to hint at the presence of a subject by only showing its shadow or to create a sense of scale by comparing shadows. Shadows are copies of our subjects with different qualities that can greatly enhance our composition.
I live in California and most of the summer all I get is a flat blue sky. Come winter, things change. Suddenly the sky gets interesting. Finally, the setting sun has the reflector it needs to create sunsets we only see get during the winter months. The clouds reflect the sunlight and because it now travels thousands of miles through the atmosphere, its deep red light will illuminate the clouds and the landscape creating unique “scapes” that only photographers know exist and many attribute to the wonders of digital image manipulation.
Winter has many other beneficial weather patterns to offer. Nothing is as exciting as photographing a virgin snowscape in the first light of the day. When a white veil of beauty covers all the unsightly spots and the frost glistens from the trees reflecting the first rays, you know that only winter can provide such beauty.'
xoxo
Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/photography-in-the-winter-season#ixzz24t3U91rE
lol, Mum!! :) See, Tammy? :)
ReplyDeletexoxox
Hahaha, I was totally thinking the same thing as Abby. Thanks Mum!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for Summer. I mean, I do get hot, but I just dislike the cold so much! It's been lovely lately though. I'd like it to stay Spring forever and always :)
That's very sad about the Chinese boy. I realise that not all people in the world have enough food, or clean water or education, but it would never have occured to me that not everyone would be blessed to enjoy a blue sky. We really, truly are very blessed to live in Australia! My heart kind of ached for that little boy. How miserable :(