Description: Vase with flowers in brilliant window light
Background: In April, late in the afternoon, the sun shines for an hour or so from the southwest into our dining room window, forming a narrow beam. Walking past can be blinding if one is not careful. The brilliance is a blessing. With light reflecting and bouncing, the dining room is bathed in a warm, golden glow that is the very essence of spring. A room still drab with winter memories is suddenly transformed.
One day, while passing, I stopped to look at how bright the reflection was on the floor, following the beam of light up onto the table and the far wall. New flowers, an effort to shake off rainy doldrums, had been bought a few days before. I grabbed the vase and placed it on the table, hoping to get a shot of the flowers with the far wall as a backdrop. However, looking through the viewfinder, I was fascinated by the brilliance of the light on the glass. I decided to focus near the point where the sun hit the glass because that light beam is what made the scene. A vase on a table with flowers could be captured anytime, but this beam was only present a short time each spring and fall.
Technical: Minolta Maxxum 5, Maxxum 28-100mm (D), Kodak UltraMax 400, aperture priority, commercial scan 1800 x 1215 pixels.
Frame Works?: Yes! The sunbeam is front and center; it is the point of the story. The image captures a setting that only appears a few days each spring and fall. The spring setting is much more special because the sun laughingly chases away winter’s dreariness, and the room and I rejoice.
