Picture of the day - August 14, 2007

"Sunbeams"

Photo courtesy of Mr. J. Kennerson. Sunlight is one of those things in nature that we all pretty much take for granted. Of course we notice its absence on cloudy days, but if you're like me you rarely stop to think about just what those wonderful rays of sunlight do for us earthlings on a daily basis... First and foremost, the sun's warming rays keep us alive and well. Like all "live" stars, the sun's core is a gigantic nuclear furnace which releases more energy into space in a single second than all the creatures on our planet have consumed since its very creation. And just enough of that energy reaches our planet to keep everything alive and growing. If the sun were to suddenly stop "burning", the earth would quickly freeze solid and life as we know it would cease to exist. On a more noticeable level, sunlight in all its various wavelengths add beauty to our world, creating sunrises and sunsets that transform the sky into stunning mosaics of orange, red and purple on a regular basis. And as today's picture so clearly demonstrates, a few early morning sunbeams can do wonders for a simple stand of trees. Whatever would we do without that wonderful sunlight! About the photo: Today's beautiful picture was submitted by Mr. J. Kennerson, a brand new member of Photography On The Net Forums. Here is a little background info on the image: "This photo was taken at a place called Harold Hill at a nature reserve called Dagnam Park in Essex England. It was taken on 21 June with a Canon 1ds2 in manual mode using a 75-300mm IS lens @ 75mm."  -- J. Kennerson Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"