The Season of Light

My 13 year-old nephew Jesse recently wondered aloud what the equinox was. I was more than happy to explain what I knew to him as I am now with you.

As the earth rotates, creating both day and night, it is also orbiting the sun. This orbit affects the angle of the sun and how it shines on the earth. The more direct the angle, the more light we have. This phenomenon creates the seasons as we know them in the Northern Hemisphere.

The earth has an imaginary line around it's middle called the equator. This line is where the sun shines for 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night on or about both March 21st and September 21st. What happens the rest of the year and the travels the light angle makes annually is what this blog is about.

The seasons are outlined by the journey of the sun angle as it moves both away and toward us as the days go by. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox is on or about September 21st. This is what people usually refer to as the first day of fall. The sun angle is lowering in the sky and will continue to lower until the Winter Solstice, December 21st, the first day of winter. After that, the sun angle will slightly raise until it reaches it's apex of the Summer Solstice on or about June 21st, the first day of summer.

Now I am what is referred to as a natural light photographer. A natural light photographer is a person who basically uses the available light to present and capture moments in time. This form of photography is usually outdoors and is ruled by the relationship of the sun and the earth's orbit around her, so I divide the seasons by the months of the year to define my seasons of light.

The months of September, October, and November make up my season of fall light. The months of December, January, and February make up my winter light. The months of March, April, and May make up my season of spring light. And finally, the months of June, July, and August make up my season of summer light.

What is interesting to note is that each day has a reciprocating day of equal sun angle light. So, for example, today is October 10th. The sun angle equivalency for October 10th is March 2nd. This means that the angle of the sun now going away from us is the exact same as the angle of the sun on its journey back towards us on March 2nd. This is both fall light now and its equivalent of spring light then.

This thought process can be a little disheartening. In just 2 days we will be in winter light until the middle of January...yuck. But as you may have experienced, the feeling of fall light comes back by mid-January and believe it or not by mid- April we are back to summer light equivalence.

I also divide the year into two seasons, a season of light and a season of darkness. I personally prefer the season of light which runs from March through September. The days are longer and the light is brighter. I think we generally feel better about things during this time of year.

So what of this season of darkness? We must make the best of it I guess. In Colorado, we are lucky to have snow skiing to get us through. It gets us outside and moving. We all have the holidays to look forward to and then by spring break, well we will all have made it through to yet another season of light.