by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: May 12, 2010

It rises clear and blue and sets as dusty and orange. The difference between sunrise and sunset is clear to the eye when the evenings air is full of dust and particles that give the sun a yellowish or orange cast. The morning air is cooler and particles have not filled the air yet, giving a relatively blue cast to objects and structures. In the evening, a light orangey or yellowish wash over everything that is lit by the sun will give a strong signal as to what time it is.

When the air is filled with dust or smoke particles all day, then it will give the "red dawn" effect. But the cast it will still be more toward the cooler reds, while the evening light will still be warmer orange, red or yellow.

If fog is an issue, the tiny water droplets, as they fade or grow dense, will give a distinctive whitish, neutral gray, reflective or blue white wash over any light. The dawn will be cooler, the sunset will be warmer.  If there is a large mass of strong color on the ground or in the scene, the tiny droplets will have a reflective cast of that color, in addition to the fog base color. Sometimes, the reflected color will be very subtle, but when the fog just does not look right, adding the slightest bit of reflected color will correct the problem, whether at dawn or sunset.

Depending on the season and distance from the equator, the sun can take a quite radical slant, giving different qualities of light and shadow that are unique to the time of day.  This slant will greatly alter the mood of the scene as people instinctively react to the signs that a particular season is being rendered.

In Summer, there is much more dust that will give deep and rich color to sunsets. In Winter, there can be much less color to the sunset from a lack of dust, along with a weakness to the light from light cloud, light fog or atmospheric water droplets.

In urban areas, depending on the smog levels, evening smog creates a different light than in the relatively cool and clear dawn hours. Smog can affect a reddish, orange and even brownish cast to the light. In landscapes, there are autumn and late summer wood trash fires, agricultural burns, forest fires and other smoky effects can cause changes to the cast of the light at any time of day, often with very dramatic effects.

At sea, any number of things can happen to the light, as the chemicals of the ocean interact with the atmospheric clouds and fog.

With interiors, natural light can create a warm, yellow morning glow or the deeper glows of sunset that wash over all unshadowed objects or in particular spots in a scene. This creates even more layers of mood and meaning that comes from pure natural light, even when a very small window is involved. 

Whether a scene literally depicts a dawn or sunset, or whether the light of dawn or sunset washes over the structures and objects in a work, there are a variety lights, from a watery Winter dawn to a robust Summer sunset that can evoke many moods and send many messages to the viewer.

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