Like let’s assume 10am and 6pm are the same relative angles of sun in the sky- why isn’t the lighting identical warmth in photos?
In: Physics
The sun warms the earth, the earth warms you. The direct sunlight only changes that a little bit.
In the morning, the earth has cooled for 10 hours but in the evening it has warmed for 10 hours.
That’s also why it’s way colder at 5AM than at 1AM despite both being without sun.
Angle isn’t everything. The answer is a difference in atmospheric conditions. Mornings tend to be more…moist. There’s more moisture in the air so the light refracts differently. Add to that the change in temperature. Mornings go from cool to warm. Evenings go from warm to cool.
Temperature DOES effect color surprisingly, on a small scale:
“We frequently get calls from customers who can’t figure out why their measurements vary, even when they’re using maintained devices. Why would a sample read one way one day, then slightly different another? Many times the culprit is thermochromaticity, and it becomes an even bigger problem as the seasons change.
Every kind of material changes color with temperature. These changes cause the material to exhibit a shift in reflected wavelengths of light, which can alter our perception. Often the color shift is so slight the naked eye would never notice. But if your job is to quality check color critical products, you need to fully understand how thermochromaticity can impact your color, your measurements, and your ability to pass inspection.” (see source here: [https://www.xrite.com/blog/temperature-affects-color-measurements](https://www.xrite.com/blog/temperature-affects-color-measurements) )
Now the difference isn’t much, but there IS a difference.
However, in film, some of the scenes you think are sunset scenes are actually sunrise scenes and vice versa.
So some reasons why:
1. Moisture in the air/atmosphere.
2. A higher number of pollutants present in the air at night.
3. Your own expectations coloring the scene.
4. Actual differences in perceived color (when measured by a spectrometer) due to temperature, though these are negligible.
Wait, I’m not the only one who can tell morning from sunset in movies and photographs? There’s goes my only superpower.
I think this is only true on the west coast, because east coast morning light is harsh af.
Reason being, the sun has had time to burn off morning haze on the east coast before it gets to land, whereas on the west coast the ocean moisture gets sucked towards the land due to heating land mass and rising air currents.
Radiation. Short wave radiation has not yet had a chance to warm up our rock yet in the morning. This is the also the same radiation that will give you a sunburn or a tan. In the evening the short wave radiation has disappated and heated up our rock. We’re left with only long wave radiation. So the sunlight is literally different at sunset.
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