Venice Antisolar Rays

Pictured by Anthony Epes ( Photography ) near to sunrise. Rays slope downwards to apparently - only apparently - converge in the south west opposite the sunrise point. At centre is the bell tower of St Marks. The tower of San Giorgio Maggiore is a far left.

These rays appear to be from a rising sun but the giveaway is the sunlit clouds, lit from the right.   The rays apparently converge towards the antisolar point.  They are thus better called antisolar rays rather than anticrepuscular.

The rays of course do not converge.   They are parallel and slope gently downwards from the low sun as they cross the Venetian sky.   Perspective has them converge, like railroad tracks, roads and ploughed fields.

The rays paradoxically brighten as they approach the antisolar point and also get more distant.   The camera is then looking more directly along their length and seeing a longer path through their sunlit air.

Atmospheric
Optics
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Clouds on the opposite horizon - the north east in this case - cast their parallel shadows across the sky