I’m posting this here as a fun little challenge for all the landscape photographers. I’ll provide all the information you need except for one detail and see how quickly people can guess 1) what is odd about the lighting in this image and 2) what is causing that effect.
This was shot facing South & slightly West at 2:20 PM in the shade of the mountain peaks. No artificial light was used for this photo and processing was not used to create the effect.
The lighting is certainly interesting in this photo. The effect is subtle so I didn’t notice it immediately. The light from above is cold, maybe a clear sky, but a much warmer, low-angle light source seems to be located in the northwest. I guess it could be sunlight reflected from a snowy mountain or hillside.
Great sleuthing, Atli! You are absolutely correct. What would normally be shadows when shooting toward the sunlight (even in the shade) are reversed and are the bright portion. Here is what was behind me when I took this photo:
