In this ethereal photo, the romantic colours of dawn bathe the world’s most famous monument to love – the Taj Mahal – seen through the morning mist.

Photographer Sunil Choudhary woke up early and walked more than 4 kilometres to catch a view of the Taj Mahal, which was built in memory of Shah Jahan’s wife, who died in childbirth in 1631.

“The light rays coming out of the tree compelled me to catch the moment. I was spellbound by the dreamy view of the Taj Mahal.”

The beautiful early-morning colours in this photo are caused by “Rayleigh scattering” – the sun’s rays travel a long distance through the atmosphere when the sun is still close to (or beneath) the horizon, and the bluer wavelengths get scattered away, leaving warmer hues.

Mist – as seen here – is actually a ground-level cloud. Mist is more common in the morning, as temperatures drop below the dew point overnight, allowing droplets of water to form. After the sun rises, temperatures can rise again, leading the droplets to evaporate and the mist to disappear. So it’s lucky Sunil got to the Taj Mahal at the right time!

Photo location: Taj Mahal Agra 

Photographer based: Rajasthan, India 

Camera: Google Pixel 3aXL