The quality of light is equally important in landscape photography as the amount of light. One of the biggest secrets of landscape photography is figuring out when the best light is available. The Golden Hour occurs between sunrise and sunset, a time when the light is gentle, diffused, and vivid. By contrast, afternoon light is harsh and tends to flatten subjects.
Looking at a single image makes it difficult to distinguish between a sunset and a sunrise. If you are unable to see the sun rising or setting, you cannot be sure which event you are watching.
However, most people associate sunrises and sunsets with colder, softer, and brighter colors. While that may not be the absolute truth, it’s usually the way it turns out.
However, most people associate sunrises and sunsets with colder, softer, and brighter colors. While that may not be the absolute truth, it’s usually the way it turns out.
A sunrise typically has more yellow, as well as bright orange, pink and blue. You will also see some interesting contrasts with dark blue in the sky and yellow on the horizon. On the other hand, a sunset has warm and dark saturated colors, like red, orange, magenta, and purple.
The First Daily Sunrise
Those who have wondered where the first sunrise can be seen around the world need not wonder any longer – at least according to New Zealanders. New Zealanders claim the first daily sunrise is located north of Gisborne, New Zealand, the East Cape, and Te Urewera National Park holds the honor of witnessing the world’s first sunrise every morning.
Controversy
The political and economic reasons for constantly changing the international dateline have led to some controversy over which country sees the sunrise first.
Kiribati Islands, located in the South Pacific, were the first to move. Kiribati is a group of islands covering over 3.5 million square kilometers. Prior to 1995, the island chain was divided by 24 hours by the international dateline, separating the eastern and western islands. Eventually, they decided to move all of the islands to UTC +14, putting them in the furthest eastern timezone.
The next country to move to UTC +14 was Tonga, which introduced daylight saving time in 1999.
After that, Samoa moved its position on the international dateline in 2011. Previously, Samoa was the last place in the world to see the sunset. Prior to this, Samoa was the last place on earth to see a sunset. Among the highlights of a trip to Samoa is a visit to Cape Mulinu’u, where you can be among the world’s last people to end the day.
Their move in 2011 was aimed at bringing them in line with the working week in New Zealand and Australia. 119 years earlier, they had aligned themselves with the US in order to improve trade, but Australia and New Zealand became increasingly important.
Conclusion
In spite of this, these countries are not the first to see the sunrise merely because they are the first to welcome the new day by the clock. It is still the East Cape, due to the curvature of the Earth, that holds the distinction of seeing the sunrise first.
