Shadows in a Vase

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I bought these sunflowers at Trader Joe's. Yesterday, with the late afternoon sun, the shadows were very long, and to me, they were more prominent than the flowers themselves. What was fascinating was how the shadow of the transparent water rim became solid, yet the shadow of the transparent vase stayed transparent, and the water in the vase cast a semi-transparent shadow. All to do with refraction and reflection and Physics, I'm certain.
I did a notan first which helped me work out the overall arrangement - the rightmost sunflower was at an odd angle, sticking out, and I thought I would eliminate it. But then, I felt the shadows of the arrangement were pulling the composition sharply down to the left with nothing to balance it. Back came that awkward sunflower - cover it with your hand and see how the balance shifts - and helps pull it back up towards the top right. More Physics, moments, balance of forces all come into play.
Good ol' Newton. I need to do some apple studies in homage.
This is called "Shadows in a Vase."




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