of rods and cones

One of my favorite things about night photography is that the camera can capture colors that often go unseen by the eye.  This orange sky is no exception--I remember the sky being a muddy brownish purple and was surprised to see this blaze against the low-lying clouds that night.

Based on what I've learned about the human eye and its light-sensing cells (and I really don't know whether this is true or not, but it makes sense), our cones, which sense color, aren't as sensitive to light as our rods.  Cones aren't adapted for helping us see at night, and rods take over, meaning the color (wavelength) sensitivity of our scotopic (dark or night) vision is different than that of our photopic (light) vision.  I'm learning more about the human visual system in my Sensory Neuro class, so I'll update if I'm horribly wrong, but basically our color vision just doesn't work as well at night, and we miss images like this--unless you're like me and carry a camera to random places (even out to bars for the night).

Speaking of carrying cameras: My point-and-shoot (Sony WSC-120) broke the other day after a year of hard use and good service--not its fault, but gravity's. I'd definitely recommend this camera--most of the photos on this blog were taken with it until I got the Nikon d40. It's a great multipurpose camera for everyday use and more. Honestly, what I said earlier about bars was slightly untrue--I don't routinely carry a dSLR out at night with me (and obsessively guarded the camera in its case on my lap when I was actually out), and had only brought it specifically for night pictures of the snow. Without my wonderful little point-and-shoot, though, which fit so beautifully in a clutch or a pocket, I feel like I'm missing all these opportunities to document my life! I'm searching for a replacement now (although I might just get one of the same model).