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Fall Equinox
“By this, the sun was out o' sight,
And darker gloaming brought the night.”
~ Robert Burns, The Twa Dogs 1785
Alas, the days are getting shorter and a chill is settling in. Dusk is the passing period referring to the dinner period towards the end of twilight as darkness is settling in.
Belonging neither entirely to day nor to night, dusk begins after the sun has slipped below the horizon, while its light still reaches the upper atmosphere, and gradually deepens through shades of gold, rose, violet and blue until true darkness arrives.
Astronomers actually divide twilight into three stages. During civil twilight, there is usually enough natural light to see comfortably outdoors.
Nautical twilight follows, when the horizon begins to disappear but brighter stars become visible.
Finally comes astronomical twilight, when the last scattered sunlight fades and the sky becomes fully dark. Dusk is therefore not really a single moment at all, but a succession of changing light.
It is also a changing of the guard in the natural world. As daylight animals settle down and creatures of the night begin to stir, another group specializes in this narrow interval between them. Animals most active around dawn and dusk are called crepuscular, from the Latin crepusculum, meaning twilight. Deer emerge to browse, rabbits venture from cover, bats take to the air, and moths begin visiting flowers. Many predators also take advantage of the dimness, when neither daytime nor nighttime vision has quite the upper hand.
Languages have found wonderfully evocative words for this uncertain light. Scots has gloaming, perhaps one of the loveliest English-language words for twilight. Scottish Gaelic has ciaradh, associated with the dimming or darkening of evening, and beul na h-oidhche, literally the “mouth of the night.” .\
In the Scottish Highlands, dusk is characterized by extended twilight periods, particularly in summer when the sun sets late and the sky rarely fully darkens due to a phenomenon known as "simmer dim."
Painters and photographers have long sought to capture the changing soft violets, pinks, and blue reflections on water surfaces. This soft hued tartan captures these last changing colors of light on a background of softening gray blue. 💙 💛 💗 💜 🌜 ✨ 🌃
Certain subjects have proved especially attractive to artists and photographers working at dusk. Landscapes are perhaps the most enduring: mountains, coastlines, lakes, moorland and open countryside become simplified into broad masses of shadow beneath a luminous sky. Water is particularly effective because it reflects the last light and can preserve warm sunset colors after the surrounding land has become dark. Trees, ruined buildings, castles, church towers and distant hills also make strong silhouettes, giving a dusk composition an immediately recognizable structure.
Cities offer a different attraction. Dusk is the brief period when the remaining natural light in the sky is balanced by artificial illumination from windows, street lamps and signs. Photographers sometimes call this the “blue hour,” although the useful period may be considerably shorter than an hour. Streets, bridges, harbors and architectural subjects can be especially striking at this time because buildings retain visible detail while lights begin to glow.
Artists have also repeatedly been drawn to subjects that naturally belong to the transition between day and night: figures returning home, boats coming into harbor, cattle or sheep in fields, solitary travelers, evening gatherings, and buildings with illuminated windows. Such subjects allow dusk itself to become part of the story. Rather than merely providing an attractive background, the fading light can suggest the end of a journey, approaching night, solitude, stillness, or the close of the working day.
For more beautiful Scottish photography at dusk, click the photograph of Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland - Syxaxis Photography.