 Alissa
Whalen, Administrative Assistant to the Warren Wilson MFA Program in
Creative Writing, has sent me this impressive photo from the Big Sky in
the
prairie of Montana looking in the oppositie direction of the setting
Sun. What we see are shadows of clouds stretching out in the
distance. The clouds that create the shadows are either behind
the camera or the clouds in the foreground ("foresky"). Because
the Sun is on the verge of setting, the Sun's rays
are parallel to the flat plains of eastern Montana. Because the
Sun is so far away, the shadows caused by the clouds are parallel to
each other. The parallel rays of shadows appear to converge
similar to the convergence of railroad tracks in the distance. In
meteorology and discussions of atmospheric optics, these rays are
called "anti-crepuscular rays",
and are relatively rare. A
photograph from the Swannanoa Valley of a similar cloud shadow was
published on PPOW
over a year ago (Aug, 2005).  Paul O'Malley from the Boston, Massachusets area send me a
similar photo of anti-crepuscular rays a couple of years ago.
Again the sun is directly behind the camera close to the horizon.
The camera is looking in the opposite direction from the setting sun,
and shadows from the clouds (both foreground clouds and clouds behind
the camera) are visible tapering off into the distance.I thank both Alissa Whalen and Paul O'Malley for these excellent photos. Donald F. Collins |
