Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
éclairage rasant
English translation:
raking (sun)light
Added to glossary by
Christopher Crockett
May 10, 2006 14:26
18 yrs ago
French term
éclairage rasant
French to English
Science
Archaeology
aerial archaeology
La méthode utilisée met à profit l'observation des anomalies qu'entraîne l'existence de terrassements anciens et de vestiges enfouis : couleur des terres labourées, croissance ou teinte différentielle des végétaux, ombres portées en ***éclairage rasant***, traces d'humidité….
Proposed translations
(English)
5 +4 | raking (sun)light | Christopher Crockett |
4 +2 | oblique light | Bourth (X) |
3 +1 | low-angle lighting | Tony M |
Proposed translations
+4
4 mins
Selected
raking (sun)light
..
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Note added at 11 mins (2006-05-10 14:38:15 GMT)
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Generally speaking, aerial photography is most effective when done during the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun hits the land at an acute angle rather than from directly overhead, causing the creation of shadows cast by topographic features which project above the normal ground level.
These features can be such things as the remains of ancient walls which may be covered by subsequent soil deposits, hardly visible from the surface --where they appear as just little "bumps"-- but when seen in raking sunlight can clearly be distinguished as man-made features, the outline of buildings.
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Note added at 37 mins (2006-05-10 15:04:21 GMT)
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Some examples of photography under raking light conditions:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/indice2-pg2.h...
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg2.h...
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=612
http://www.ramagazine.org.uk/index.php?pid=119
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/270e.shtml
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a214-...
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a214-...
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a2140...
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Note added at 59 mins (2006-05-10 15:26:53 GMT)
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Sorry, my Google was for "raking light" + "aerial photography", vs. "oblique light" + "aerial photography".
Head to head, a simple search for "raking light" looses out to "oblique light", 24,200 to 28,400.
Pass your cursor over the second .jpg on this page and see how much detail can be seen in an aerial photograph taken under raking light conditions:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg2.h...
More raking light photos from the same site:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg3.h...
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg4.h...
And the Aerial Archeologist at work:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/imgs/nadar.jpg
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Note added at 11 mins (2006-05-10 14:38:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Generally speaking, aerial photography is most effective when done during the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun hits the land at an acute angle rather than from directly overhead, causing the creation of shadows cast by topographic features which project above the normal ground level.
These features can be such things as the remains of ancient walls which may be covered by subsequent soil deposits, hardly visible from the surface --where they appear as just little "bumps"-- but when seen in raking sunlight can clearly be distinguished as man-made features, the outline of buildings.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 37 mins (2006-05-10 15:04:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Some examples of photography under raking light conditions:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/indice2-pg2.h...
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg2.h...
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=612
http://www.ramagazine.org.uk/index.php?pid=119
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/270e.shtml
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a214-...
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a214-...
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/forma-urbis/a2140...
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Note added at 59 mins (2006-05-10 15:26:53 GMT)
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Sorry, my Google was for "raking light" + "aerial photography", vs. "oblique light" + "aerial photography".
Head to head, a simple search for "raking light" looses out to "oblique light", 24,200 to 28,400.
Pass your cursor over the second .jpg on this page and see how much detail can be seen in an aerial photograph taken under raking light conditions:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg2.h...
More raking light photos from the same site:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg3.h...
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/en/discip2-pg4.h...
And the Aerial Archeologist at work:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/aerien/imgs/nadar.jpg
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to all. "
+2
7 mins
oblique light
In addition, earthworks such as banks and ditches can also be photographed under oblique light conditions (shadow marks). Although crop and soil marks were ...
www.bbc.co.uk/history/lj/ archaeologylj/popup_aerial_survey.html
Archaeology. A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone ... angle so as to produce oblique light across the carving (Gray & Ferguson 1997, 8-13). ...
www.bangor.ac.uk/history/site_english/ research/res_projects/archaeology/stones/index.htm
Oblique light can show reduced topography of sites invisible from the ground. ...
www.reference-wordsmith.com/ cgi-bin/lookup.cgi?exact=1&terms=site
And suddenly, in the oblique light, Christine and I could see the wagon-wheel ruts of ... He writes about archaeology for the The New Yorker, Smithsonian, ...
www.nmoca.org/CuartoCentenario/theroyalroad.html
www.bbc.co.uk/history/lj/ archaeologylj/popup_aerial_survey.html
Archaeology. A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone ... angle so as to produce oblique light across the carving (Gray & Ferguson 1997, 8-13). ...
www.bangor.ac.uk/history/site_english/ research/res_projects/archaeology/stones/index.htm
Oblique light can show reduced topography of sites invisible from the ground. ...
www.reference-wordsmith.com/ cgi-bin/lookup.cgi?exact=1&terms=site
And suddenly, in the oblique light, Christine and I could see the wagon-wheel ruts of ... He writes about archaeology for the The New Yorker, Smithsonian, ...
www.nmoca.org/CuartoCentenario/theroyalroad.html
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Christopher Crockett
: A bit more technical than my "raking". Alas, I can't seem to get your first three links to work, and the fourth doesn't have an aerial shot, but roads would show up in a raking light as well as walls.
8 mins
|
agree |
Tony M
: [try copying & pasting them, Chris --- it's those spurious spaces that usually mess things up if you just click on them]
13 mins
|
+1
20 mins
low-angle lighting
I think friend Bourth has got the definitive answer, but you might just like to consider this as an alternative, or if you need to 'ring the changes'. It's certainly often used in fields outside archaeology.
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Note added at 22 mins (2006-05-10 14:49:03 GMT)
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Or of course 'low-angle sunlight'
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Note added at 22 mins (2006-05-10 14:49:03 GMT)
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Or of course 'low-angle sunlight'
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Bourth (X)
: Actually that's what I started off researching, before preferring "oblique"
2 hrs
|
Cheers, Alex! Of course, I'm coming to this from a cinema lighting viewpoint...!
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