I hustled up to The Pond again the other evening to capture the sunset. I love going to the pond because, even though I stand at pretty much the same spot every time, I get such different images. Sunsets are funny that way. This time, I was captivated by the reflections of the vibrant sunset color on the rippling surface of the water.
…of August 2010, that is.
The sky put on a lovely show on Tuesday to usher out the month of August. As I often (ok, sometimes) do when I see a nice sunset developing, I hightailed it up to the pond near my house to see what I could see. Here are a few of the resulting images:
I’ve mentioned crepuscular rays in the blog on a number of occasions. The next photo shows “anti-crepuscular rays.” They are similar to crepuscular rays but show up opposite from the sun. I don’t recall ever seeing anti-crepuscular rays before so I was pretty excited about it.
I got a call at about 8:00 last night while I was putting away groceries: “Did you see the sunset??!!” I had not seen the sunset, but, trusting the judgment of the caller, I grabbed my camera and quickly headed up to my pre-designated sunset spot, The Pond.
Wow. It was stunning. In the next photo, I love how the bottom layer of clouds (the sort of brownish-looking layer) emulates the shape of the mountain layer below it. Amazing.
Yes, the pond again. I like going to the pond at sunset. It’s a very different kind of photography than I often do. Setting up in one spot and waiting… that’s not my usual MO. But I like it. It gives me time to experiment with the settings and to really pay attention to what’s going on around me. And maybe one of these days I’ll manage to capture a really REALLY stunning sunset.
About 45 minutes before sunset last night, the sky was looking fairly promising for sunset pics, so I quickly loaded up my gear and headed to The Pond. I got there a bit too late for any good bird photos, so I set my sights on the sky and I actually used my tripod for the shoot (yea!). The sunset turned out to be not-as-spectacular as it looked like it might be and the water was too rough for good reflections, but I think this shot is pretty nice:
The Pond
That’s kind of how it goes with photography. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. It was definitely good practice, though.
Pond at sunset
This is a pond near my house. It’s not an especially pretty pond, but it’s the only pond I’ve got within walking distance so I’ve grown quite fond of it. This time of year, the red-winged blackbirds are abundant and they’re fun birds to watch, if you’re into that sort of thing. I even caught a fleeting glimpse of a beaver in my pond last year. Sorry, no photo of the beaver… I’ll keep trying.
Red-winged blackbird
Tree reflection
