Sunday, September 23, 2012

[wichita]henge

new york has this phenomenon called [manhattanhenge].  it's the time of the year when the setting sun perfectly aligns with the the grids of manhattan, allowing the sunset to be seen perfectly in between the skyscrapers.  for new yorkers this happens twice a year, may 31st and july 12th and produces some very cool shots of the city.

wanting to try and capture [wichitahenge], i realized first i'd have to figure out when exactly the setting sun aligned with the direction of the our street grid. embarrassingly, it took longer than it should have to realize our grid runs perfectly east and west which means the sun should align on the equinoxes, march 21 and september 22, exactly  like it's namesake [stonehenge].  it's manhattan's slightly skewed grid system that gives them two unique dates.

i looked up the time of the sunset and searched out downtown wichita's most "canyon-like" street.  there weren't the hoards of people you'd find in manhattan, but to my surprise there were a couple other people taking pictures.  once i found my spot i waited for the shot.  i've never watched the sunset downtown but was really surprised how fast it happens.  having it framed between two buildings and a pedestrian bridge puts a new perspective on it.  dodging a few cars, i was able to get a shot looking due west at the sun set.

i don't know if [wichitahenge] will ever be as big a [manhattanhenge] but if you're curious, no need to search the internet and find when it happens, our east and west streets makes it pretty simple.





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It just occurred to me that Wichita might have a Henge effect. I live in Wichita but don't recognize the street your pictures were taken. I hope you are still on line and can give me an answer.