Twice each day we have the opportunity to see something truly amazing but often we are too consumed in our busy lives to stop and see this amazing pulchritudinous display. When does this take place? The two times when these displays occurs are at the dayspring and the evenfall.

What is the most amazing thing about these two events, the Dayspring and the Evenfall is that the colors that often appear during these times are a gift from our Creator. Too, life on earth does not in any way require that there be an amazing display at these times, however, our Creator went above and beyond the necessary things to provide his creation with these wonderful expressions of his love for us.

The Dayspring (a period shortly before the sunrise) and Evenfall (a period shortly after the sunset) are often referred to as the golden hour ¹ in both photography and cinematography. This golden hour is a time when the light of day is reduced, redder and softer than it is at other times when the sun is higher in the sky.

When the sun is near the horizon, light from the sun travels through a greater amount (or thickness) of the atmosphere, reducing the intensity of the direct light, so that more of the illumination comes from indirect light from the sky, thus reducing the light color ratio. More blue light is scattered, so if the sun is present, its light appears more reddish. In addition, the small angle the sun has with the horizon produces longer shadows.

During these times, the occurrence of atmospheric phenomena is more likely to happen and often this is the time to see amazing pulchritudinous displays of these atmospheric phenomena.

The three phenomenon for which I have created names for are in fact three parts of what most people would call the sunrise and sunset. Too, all three colorful phenomenon which occur every sunrise will occur exactly in reverse each sunset.

However, I feel that the somewhat lengthy period of increasing light during Dayspring (sunrise) and the often lengthy period of decreasing light during Evenfall (sunset) both have need to be divided into separate atmospheric phenomena periods for the purposes of my photography gallery.

Thus, within this gallery, for both the dayspring and evenfall, I have divided each to be contained within three separate atmospheric phenomena which atmospheric phenomena are called:

(1) The Suntouch is when the sun appears to touch the horizon. Thus the first event of the Evenfall or the final event of the Dayspring is the suntouch, which are those few moments of each day when the sun seemingly touches the earth.

(2) The Sunglow, (also know as Golden Hour) is when the sun is fully below the horizon but light from the sun still colors the sky with an array of pulchritude.

Next, the sky slowly changes from black and takes on colors, sometimes, first blue, then a dark red or gold and progressively brighter towards yellow. During this period, the stars fade and then disappear behind the cloak of light. All throughout this period, the planets and the moon if it is in the sky, continue to shine. This is also the time known in cinematography as the golden hour even though it almost never lasts for an hour. In this journal, this event is called the sunglow.

(3) The Even (also known as twilight) is the partially dark time just before the full darkness of night (or evening) arrives. At this time, the sky or at least the horizon continues to contain a faint light from the sun. It is during the Even when the planets first appear, soon after to be followed by the stars and then finally the dark of night.

Several things happen during dayspring. First, a very dim light from the sun is seen on the eastern horizon which begins a period called the even of the day. During this period, the light slowly brightens which continues to lighten the sky. All during the even, the light coming from the sun is not bright enough to overpower the light of the stars.

Although the primary Atmospheric Phenomena are suntouch, sunglow and even, I have personally come to be aware of many other types of atmospheric phenomena.

In fact, I believer that there are an untold number of atmospheric phenomena that are known to occur in the skies above earth. The list below includes some of these phenomena. However, methinks, this list is no where near complete but will continue to grow with ongoing research and field observations.

In the galleries where The Wayfarers Journal has not had the opportunity to photograph the atmospheric phenomena, a credit photo will be temporarily used only until we have had the opportunity to photograph the event.