COP3 Lighting Techniques Exercise: Observation 1

Context of Practice 3 Lighting Techniques Exercise: Observation 1
While looking through the book Light for Visual Artists, I noticed a really nice exercise that I want to look at and go through to be able to help me understand light in a really interesting way. It was all about asking questions to yourself to be able to understand the source of the light and what kind of light was being used and whether there was any other factors involved like mist or haze. By doing this exercise to a number of different photographs, I can then understand light better and look at it in a much broader way. 

For this exercise I needed to gather some images together, and started off with just doing a generic Google search to be able to find a range of different landscape images that had a really nice light source in them. I then want to use photo's from a photographer that I am hoping to work with soon as do a critique of 5 or so of their images to understand the lighting in them. When googling I found a really nice photographer called Eric Hines who took some beautiful landscape shots that all incorporated some light elements and also colour into his work, I started by picking out my favourite 5 to start observing. 

The questions below are taken from the book Light for Visual Artists, and will be what I am going to focus my answers around:
Observe the light. What is its main source? Are there any other light sources? What colour is it? Is it direct light from a bulb or the sun, or is it diffuse light from the sky or a window? Are there any shadows? Do you have a hard edge? Are there any atmospheric factors affecting the light, such as mist, dust, or haze? Is the light pleasing to the eye? If yes, why?

Photograph 1 - (Untitled) by Eric Hines
Observe the light. What is its main source?
The main source of light is coming from the sun behind the clouds on an early evening.
Are there any other light sources?
No.
What colour is it?
The light is sunlight coming from the sun but as it is early evening as the sun is setting, we get the blue still coming through from the sky itself reflecting onto the clouds and the rest of the scene in the distance, but we also get these streaks of yellowy-orange coming through onto the top clouds where they are close to the sunlight, creating a really beautiful different range of colours.
Is it direct light from a bulb or the sun, or is it diffuse light from the sky or a window?
This is direct sunlight.
Are there any shadows?
There are no shadows in the grass that we can see as the land is fairy flat. In the distance you can see the shadows collecting in some areas on the hills and over the top as the sunlight hasn't quite hit them yet. We also get some deep shadows on the turbine making this side that we can see very much in shadows, but where the light is hitting, mainly down the right hand side of it, creating the outline, showing the true form of the shape, much like a back light would produce if you used it to light a subject.
Do you have a hard edge?
We get a subtle hard edge on the turbine at the front as it is being encased in shadows but there are no hard edged shadows coming off it, the shadow being produced it very faint as direct sunlight isn't quite hitting it, its very much hidden behind clouds, creating this very overcast atmosphere. 
Are there any atmospheric factors affecting the light, such as mist, dust, or haze?
We have a small amount of haze coming from the light around the clouds, but there is not much and this is due to the sunlight breaking through the clouds. 
Is the light pleasing to the eye? If yes, why?
I think this light is very pleasing to the eye, you can distinctively see the sunlight breaking through the clouds and forming different colours of white through to yellow, to orange that are streaked through the sky, breaking up the blue tones and bringing in a nice element of warmth to the cold sky. This also them makes the turbine stand out more, its a plain structure but with that hint of sunlight hitting its right hand side it makes it appear more alive.