Sunsets & Sunrises
February 17, 2004
For some reason right around the end of
December I got bit by a bug to capture some sunrises and
sunsets with our new camera. On weekends I've been getting up
early and driving somewhere close by to be in the right
position for the sunrise. And during the week in the afternoon
I've kept an eye on the clouds, and if it looked like there
might be a colorful sunset I've headed down to the river or to
Lee Creek Reservoir.
Sunrises and sunsets aren't just pretty
pictures - they're movies. Plant yourself in one spot and watch
the sun quickly go from yellow to orange to red disk then sink
below the horizon - and then the real show begins. The
undersides of the clouds will start out gray or white, then
suddenly change to all sorts of colors. Seeing this change for
yourself is just awesome. Sometimes the changes are slow,
sometimes fast, sometimes short-lived and sometimes last half
an hour or longer.
On the last night that I was out, I waited
around 20 minutes after the sun disappeared. It didn't look
like anything more was going to happen, and then the clouds
went from gray to a deeper red than I thought possible.
The pictures below are in the same order I
took them. I didn't get a nice colorful one until the morning
of February 8 on the way to Devils Den to see icicles. The
color came earlier than I expected and I had to pull off the
side of the road at the first decent location.
The afternoon of February 13th I rushed
down to Lee Creek Park and set up my tripod on top of a big
boulder at the river's edge. The water was smooth so I tried
shooting the reflection, and got the purple and pink picture.
I went out two more times, on the evenings
of the 16th and 17th, and got some shots I was happy with, and
- just like that - I no longer have the bug to photograph
sunrises and sunsets. But I still find myself going outside in
the mornings and evenings to look at them.
