Light and shadow

There is no earthly reason to show these photos, except that they are glimpses of what I’ve been seeing lately on the old via Garibaldi. Winter is a very, very good time for slicing bits of beauty out of the city.  Don’t worry, they grow right back.

I have lots more (and many show the eastward view, too — it’s not always sunset in ErlaWorld). But no time to start looking for them at the moment. 

Shadows are probably one of the most un-mysterious things around, but I still think they’re full of magic.
Sunset at this time of the year aims the sun’s rays with a precision and intensity that are highly gratifying. As a bonus, this is the angle at which the church of the Salute looks as if it’s sitting right at the end of the street; a few steps further, and it suddenly falls back into its correct distant position. I can amuse myself indefinitely with this optical illusion.

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4 Comments

  1. Shadows can also be mysterious, Erla. Did you know, for instance, that if you use a tiny point source of light to cast the shadow of a disc on a screen, there will be a point of (dim) light in the middle of the shadow?
    A lovely poetic blog, by the way. As usual.

    1. I didn’t know that, in fact. Of course I think shadows are mysterious; what I meant was that they aren’t inexplicable. Perhaps there’s a difference. Or rather: You put a solid object in front of some light, and it makes a dark shape on the nearest surface. Why should that end up creating effects which are so wonderful? A rhetorical question.

  2. These are beautiful, Erla. That is the light for which I am always hunting. I found some at 6:00 am in May but winter light is better everywhere I think.

    1. Thanks! Actually, 6:00 AM in April is even better. Along with 7:00 AM in July (in certain spots which I am not going to reveal. But those are glimpses I just found. As soon as I go looking for something, I never find it.

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