Guiding Lightby
ioComment by io: Well, I certainly put the cat among the pigeons with this one, didn’t I? For the record, as the questions have been asked:
No – I don’t think a sunset is artificial light. (No physics degree I here but I would guess that’s natural light).
Yes – the picture does meet the challenge. The spire is lit by a floodlight, which qualifies as artificial in my books. For the remaining doubters, a clue here is that the sun is below the distant horizon and the illuminated spire is very much in the foreground.
Yes - I agree with the theme running through the remaining comments, made by those people who could cope with the fact that there were two types of light in the picture. The spire is sidelined because of the overwhelming sunset/cloud formation and negative space. I only gave it the minimum, of 1 point, for meeting the challenge on my own score sheet. I also agree that my intended symbolism of the “light of God” pointing to the “heavens” amid the surrounding darkness was too weak, I doubt if many people saw that.
The fact is I saw the picture and took it. I submitted it, as I thought others might enjoy it and/or offer some constructive criticism (thank you to those who did). I tried various crops and, although others reflected the challenge better, I felt this one offered the best compromise between meeting the challenge and presenting a dramatic image. In an effort to retain the dark clouds at the top, which were necessary for the framing, the significance of the spire was reduced (too much). Even though I was very pleased with the result, I didn’t expect it to score highly because the artificial light was too incidental. Still, nothing venturedâ€Â¦.
Sorry for going on but now I feel better :-)
Photographer found comment helpful.