Hazy Orange Sun Mirrored in Still Lake Water

A low, orange sun hangs in a smoke-softened sky on the left of the frame, and a second, smaller sun glows in the glassy water below it. The lake is almost perfectly calm, so the warm amber and peach tones fade evenly from the horizon down to the foreground. Across the middle, dark hills sit in layers, each fainter than the one before. On the right, a rocky point juts into the water, with a single slim tree standing on top. The tree and the rocks are silhouetted and reflected below. The mood is quiet and muted, and the haze takes the edge off the light.

The caption places this at Yellowstone Lake near Terrace Point in September 2013, with smoke in the air from the Alder fire. Wildfire smoke scatters blue light and lets the longer orange and red wavelengths through, which is why the sun looks like a disc you can almost look at directly. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America, and its surface often goes flat in still air at dawn and dusk. The wide, low-contrast scene suits a widescreen desktop monitor, where the empty water leaves room for icons along the bottom and left.

More like this: Pale Limestone Ledge Above a Wide Valley.