On July 4th, I had decided to shoot the fireworks from a new vantage point overlooking little harbor. I had been excited about a possible bonus sunset shot during the day as great big clouds kept forming overhead. Those had dissipated by sunset and I figured I would have to ‘settle’ for an incredible fireworks display. Beginning at 8:15pm, I started to notice a very odd triangle of light in the sky seeming to emanate from near the lighthouse. As the sun set, the triangle became rays of light that reached their peak with this image. At the time, I was floored by this sunset (I still am actually) as the rays were present on the opposite side of the sun’s set. I later found an entry explaining the phenomena of anticrepuscular rays
While crepuscular rays are the more typical ones seen originating from the sun and often passing through clouds (aka God rays), these anticrepuscular rays are literally the opposite. I found reference to them on Wikipedia explaining that they appear to converge at the anti-solar point because of linear perspective. Apparently, this convergence of rays is really an optical illusion as the anticrepuscular rays are really almost parallel with the appearance of diagonals due to the vanishing point at infinity. That last part still has me scratching my head. Whatever the reason for them, they were an incredible site to behold.
As a bonus, I had brought along my older camera and set it up for time lapse shooting the sunset. Here is a video of the formation of those anticrepuscular rays at sunset:
