Seren looked around, the hall she was in was large and beautifully decorated with flowers. She had been received with a beautiful flower bouquet, which included Jasmine. Her favorite flower. She had to go to straight judging, which was overwhelming for her, but, she managed. Now she was judging. Two other judges were also beside her. They had judged 15 photos. Most of them were, any kind of picture of salts, reflection and refraction and many more. But, she couldn't find anything, that should win a award. Somehow, other two judges, Dylan and Margot got their favorites, but there were more to look.
There were a total of 25 photos. On her 16th photo, it was the picture of Orion's Belt, a close look at these 3 stars, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Fucking great photo! Finally, something from her interest. It should win a- She pushed the thought beside. There was more to go.
"It looks amazing, doesn't it?" She said to the other two judges.
Dylan looked at her. Dylan was an assistant professor of nearby college. Majored in Biology. "How does it look amazing? It's just a photo of Orio-"
"It's not just Orion's Belt, it's everything. The details are just awesome." Margot said to Dylan. Margot was one of the research team member of Princeton, Chemistry department.
It looked so bold to Seren, that they took three judges from different segments of science, to do the judging.
"It should get good points, even, she is with me." Seren said toward Dylan, trying to look that she is excited.
"If you want to give number; give, I'll give too." Dylan said trying to hide his irritated look."
"Actually, whatever we do, we can't beat the kids with our creativity. We have never even thought about, these photographs." Margot said with a sweet smile in her eyes.
Margot said the exact thing Seren had thought about, deeply. When she was much younger, she had captured photos. But, not as creative as the photos that has been submitted in this competition. She, not even Margot ad Dylan didn't have the chance or wish to show their creativity.
They visited the 17th and 18th photo without saying much. It had the following topic, a tree casting a shadow in daylight compared to night and a perfect water drop.
When she looked at the 19th photo, something sparked inside her. Wait, wait, wait…What is this? She was so stunned by the picture, that it left her speechless. It was a photo of an electric car racing at night. Seren gasped. The car was blurred, but infront of its front tires, where no light should be visible, was a very faint violet ripple. It looked exactly like the mathematical models of 'disruptive air ionization' she had predicted in her papers but had never be able to capture.
Disruptive Air Ionization happens when a high-speed object, like car, creates an electric field that ionizes the air around it. This causes the air molecules to become charged, creating a faint, visible ripple—like the violet glow in the photo. It's the same ionization effect she had predicted, just before a high-energy event occurs.
My god, my god, my god, what the fuck am I seeing! She stopped moving, she was very stunned. She bit her nails. It was infront of her. The thing she had been trying since many years.
"Who took this picture?" Seren asked, her voice trembling with nervous excitement. She couldn't wait any more time to see who actually took that picture.
"Osian Jones." The judge beside her read aloud.
In excitement, she had forgotten that the name of the photographer is written beside the picture.
***