There’s a Spot...

right on interstate 176 headed north toward Reading just after the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange where the land beyond the highway drops away into a valley and you can see for miles. I have often thought about how a sunset would look from there, but was never there at the right time, until this past weekend. A summer thunderstorm had rolled through a few hours before leaving just a crack above the horizon for the Sun to peek through and light the underside of the diminishing weather pattern. It was dumb luck I was passing at the time. The colors were only there for a few minutes, five at the most, and to see it I had to look behind me because I was traveling the opposite direction. I’m glad I was there to catch it.

Nikon D800 Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 @ 36mm f/16 ISO 100 .4 sec

 

Misconceptions of sunset

Sunset for me as a photographer is a magical time of day, but why, is misunderstood by many people. I remember years ago wanting to get pictures of sunsets. I have one of the sun melting away into the Gulf of Mexico from a pier in Key West Florida. I clicked and clicked away, giddy with results on my camera display. Two minutes after the fire ball disappeared, the crowded wharf was evacuated, and my wife and I headed off to dinner. Little did I know that the sun’s light, stretching around the Earth, could spray buckets of colorful drama into the waning blue sky. Now, when I’m stalking photos, I watch as people leave the scene, smile to myself, sit back and soak in the ebbing spectrum of light that washes over the immense palette above me. Click click.

Purple to Dark Blue Sunset

Nikon D800 Nikon 28-300mm @ 28mm f/3.5 IO 100 1/3 sec