Judging colour temperature 1

The following three images demonstrate the colour difference of light at different times of the day. Sunlight in the middle of the day is colourless (also known as 'white' light). The first of the following shots shows this. The photograph was taken on a clear day and a neutral subject has been chosen to show the colour cast more accurately. The camera was set to daylight white balance for all shots.

From left to right: Sunlight in the middle of the day, shade in the middle of the day, low sun.

The next shot was taken in shade at the same time of the day as the first. The text asked us to study the light carefully. I sat for a while and looked at the cat figure. I was anticipating a blue'ish cast based on what we had learnt in the text. The light we are seeing is the light away from the sun i.e. the wavelengths that have been scattered. It is the shorter wavelengths that get scattered more easily and these are in the blue range.

I did indeed see a slight blue cast to the cat statue but it is markedly more prominent in the photo above.

The final shot was taken in the low evening sun. Naturally we would expect to see an orange cast at this time of the day, we are all familiar with sunsets! Again the picture seems to show the orange colour better than when I sat and studied the subject.