Light at Play

Sometimes light makes an ordinary scene extraordinary. Sometimes it enters the picture purely as itself, an ace, joker, or wildcard.

Setaria pumila, yellow foxtail grass

Bee on goldenrod

Light begins 'white' at the sun. It colors at every visible encounter and reports to our eyes as reflections, refractions, absorptions. It defines the translucence of a bee's wings.

Bee on thistle

Light bouncing through complex structures on the back of this bee suits itself as an iridescent metallic sheen. It takes on fluorescent color from certain pigments that convert ultra-violet into visible light to amplify a spectral effect, as with the purple thistle.

Ruddy Turnstone

Light is a portal to beauty.


Mother mallard and  her ducklings

Scintillations, or glare, overpower color into bright whiteness.


Gull feathers afloat

Light is a trickster and an instrument of precision. At any moment it is unbiased and complete, singular and infinite.

Quarry wall, morning

When light visits it brings its acquired elements. Its particular qualities change our perceptions. Familiar, objective things become subjective in the play of light.