Since we will not be able to celebrate the International Day of Light (May 16th) in person, we thought that a fun way to celebrate together virtually would be with a photo contest! Members can submit any light-related photographs for our contest and on the day of we will be sharing the submissions on our website and social media pages.

You have the chance to win one of two $25 Amazon gift cards! There will be two categories for awards:

• Member's Choice
• Officer's Choice

Thanks to all of our members that submitted photographs for our Photo Contest!

I recently started wondering about where there is more "to it" with nature. For instance, if a plant has leaves that are a particular shape or texture, is there a reason why? Turns out that, often times, there is a reason! The tulip leaves here are covered with a waxy coating that lets water droplets slide very easily. The shape of the leaves, then, is perfect because the water droplets will slide right down to the soil--where the tulip's roots are waiting for a refreshing drink!

Law Quad (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2018-12-20)

Walking Down Liberty at Night

Woodward Avenue (Ferndale, MI, 2018-12-01)

There's no telling what you might find light shining on and where, so I always carry my camera around with me. This is a shot of some lights in a shopping mall. The specular highlights and the curvature of the reflection caught my attention.

Starry Sunset on Lake Hudson -- Taken at night. The sunset is in the background and soft clouds obscure the sunset and stars in the distance.

Light-Speckled Palm

Smoke and Ice

Dewdrops from an Evening Mist

Sunsets on Island Drive

Polarizing the Sun (Get Ya Shades On)

Evening light on the bamboo

During a sunset, mostly red and yellow light make it across the sky without scattering. This light sets the clouds ablaze, but it vanishes quickly as the sun finishes setting!

Comes and goes -- This photo is taken in 2017 in Istanbul with Canon 7D Mark-II with a long exposure time of ~5 seconds to exhibit shutter drag. The composition of the photo is to bring the stillness of the architecture together with the motion of life. One can see the solid and clear lines of the objects around moving and hence blurred people. This photo is surrealistic in the sense that the camera opens a window to a reality that is not visible to us directly but exists in our everyday life: Time comes and goes, just like people in our lives.

Interplay of light and dark -- This photo is taken with Canon 7D Mark-II with a wide aperture to create a portrait effect of my cat, a clear subject in foreground with a blurred background. The composition of the photo is to exhibit an interplay of light and dark on a cat's face, which unexpectedly reminds us of a cat's dualistic nature: both wild and domestic at the same time, represented by the darkness on the left and light on the right.

Light through the water vapor in quarantine -- This photo is taken late March 2020 during the early days of quarantine with Canon 7D Mark-II, wide aperture lens in a relatively quick shot of 1/400 seconds, ISO needed to be cranked up to 5000, which eventually introduced some noise to the photo. Light from a high-lux light source in dark environment shines on the water vapor and reveals the turbulent and chaotic nature of vapor in air.

Bridge through lens ball

Airing out Grievances: Part 1 of 2 -- taken in Venice, Italy, in early January 2020 (safely before coronavirus outbreak, don't worry!!).

Airing out Grievances: Part 2 of 2 -- also taken in Venice, Italy in early January 2020, and still before the outbreak of coronavirus!

Sunset in the Great Smoky Mountains -- Gorgeous sunset light in the Great Smoky Mountains, the light from the wonderful couple eyes as well as the sunset light across the cloud.

Super Blood Wolf Moon (Sherzer Observatory @ Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, 2019-01-20)

The Calm Urumea at Night -- The famed Urumea river runs through San Sebastian, but is so calm on this night that the lights hanging from the river can be seen perfectly in their reflections.

Water bead lenses

Nights in Niagara Falls -- The view from the Ontario side.

Light scattering from the dust over the city -- This photo is taken in 2018, at a boat in Istanbul Bosphorus with Canon 7D Mark-II, a telephoto lens of 250mm focal length, aperture of 5, ISO 100. Later post-processing revealed the effect of dust more dramatically. Sunlight scattering from the dust over the city creates different layers of city skyline. The main object of composition is Ortakoy Mosque which dates back to late era of Ottoman Empire and is counted as one of the signature historic buildings of Istanbul.

Lake Erie Sunset -- The view from the Maumee Bay State Park Lodge. Visiting Bowling Green Ohio for a conference.

Sun Ring & Seagull -- This photo was taken in 2018, when I was at Sterns wharf, downtown Santa Barbara. All of a sudden, I realized that there was a big ring around the sun. I clicked the shutter when there was a seagull flying into the ring.

Istanbul, the Bosphorus city, glows in the dark -- This photo is taken in 2017 in Istanbul with Canon 7D Mark-II with an ISO of 125, aperture 4.75 and 10 seconds of exposure time on a tripod and post-processed to enhance the contrast and the sharpness of the photo, which eventually created a slight cartoon effect. The long exposure time also gives way to the well-known effect where the moving objects look like light beams, which can be observed for the vehicles on the bridge.

Sunrise in the South of France -- which is where the photo was taken during a morning run.

Sunset over Lake Michigan (Norton Shores, MI, 2013-08-05)

Fun with food coloring

Colored unconventional lenses

Crystal refraction

Differential refraction and interference from a thin film

Walking up to a colorful morning in a plane thanks to Rayleigh Scattering!

Lunar corona peeking through tree branches!

Veins of the city filled with light!

"The International Day of Light is a global initiative that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy. The broad theme of light will allow many different sectors of society worldwide to participate in activities that demonstrates how science, technology, art and culture can help achieve the goals of United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – education, equality, and peace."

https://www.lightday.org