High School Photo Winner's Showcase

School: Greenwich High School

Teacher: Ellen Lewis

This photograph is an example of an optical phenomenon known as refraction. The image of the flower, while blurry in the background, is clearly visible in the water droplets clinging to the blade of grass in the foreground. The drops of water act as convex lenses, refracting the image of the flower. When the rays of light pass from the air into the water, and again when exiting, they bend due to the change in the index of refraction (the speed of light in the medium). By passing through the drops of water, the rays of light form inverted images of the flower behind.