Shadow Colours
Byron Winchell of Columbus, Ohio pictured these shortly before sunset.
©Byron R. Winchell, shown with permission.



The white boards are lit by the setting sun. Its light is reddened because blue and green are preferentially scatterd away during the long slanting path through the atmosphere.

The shadows are lit by scattered sunlight - the blue sky.

We have to train ourselves, like a painter, to be aware of colour nuances. The eye and brain does continuous white balancing like a camera and deceives us. Here they will tell us that the boards are "white" and that is what a casual glance will see.

Sunset colours