Darren J. White

CONTENTS

Pages 1-2: Reflection

When I first laid eyes on this charming little log cabin, I found it strangely appealing to the eye. Upon noticing the perfect reflection in the still waters of the pond, I thought it would make a rather good photograph. After closer examination of my photo, I realised that the image in the pond was a little darker than the actual log cabin. I was curious as to why this should be so, and decided to do a little research on the subject of reflection. I discovered the image was slightly darker due to the reduced reflectivity in the water at steeper line-of-sight angles.

Page 3: Setting Sun

Over the past few years I have taken many pictures of the setting Sun in various locations, but I have found this one to be unique amongst them. Other pictures I have taken show the Sun to be rather distorted and poorly defined, mainly due to poor atmospheric conditions, layering and flattening effects. Flattening is caused by atmospheric refraction, with the amount of refraction increasing rapidly towards the horizon. Because the solar image has an appreciable angular size (about thirty arc seconds), light from the bottom of the Sun passes through more air than light from the top, giving rise to the flattening effect. The pictures on page three show the Sun, seconds before hitting the horizon, to be very clearly defined with little flattening, despite its proximity to the horizon (even under good conditions 20% flattening can be expected close to the horizon). This is due to a clean atmosphere and a very regular temperature profile. Note the faint yellow hue at the top of the Sun due to an area of lesser refraction.

Page 4: Clouds

I thought some cloud pictures would be appropriate for a Geddes Prize submission!

These pictures were taken last summer in Aberdeen, over some houses on Don Street. Note the unusual cloud formations, the stark outline of the trees against the sky and also the superb range of colours visible in the sky (purple, blue, yellow, orange, and red).

Page 5: Skyline

To finish off my selection of photos, I decided on an Aberdeen skyline view. Apart from the tall, stark chimneys and the beautiful pastel colours of the sky, note the bright windows of the flats and houses due to the reflection of the sun.

I used a simple 35mm (aps cannon) camera to take all of the photographs included.