Desperately Seeking Sunsets

Scorched Sky, Cedar Pass, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 120mm, Exposure 1/200 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, exposure bias -3.00 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

So where do you go to find your sunsets? Are they just outside your kitchen window? Perhaps a few steps outside your back door? You are lucky indeed when that occurs, but what about some exploration?

Why not venture out? Follow that trail that leads to who-knows-where? Go somewhere you’ve never been before.

Watch the sun as it looms low on the horizon. Playing with the sky; dancing with the clouds. See how the canvas is brushed over and over, as if by an artist in search of that perfect color.

Be prepared, but do take the risk. After all, the sun is setting, and soon it will be dark. And you still have to find your way back home.

Vanishing Sun, Castle Trail, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 62mm, Exposure 1/1000 sec @ f8.0, ISO 200, exposure bias -3.67 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

But oh, that luscious twilight. The hour or two after the sun dips below the mountain peaks. What a glorious time.

Watch the mountain bluebirds as they take flight, as if to celebrate the dusk. Enjoy the pronghorn deer as they stroll and graze into the setting sun. Listen to the spring peepers as they revel in the cool, moist fading light. A communion, as it were.

Life itself is being created. Right here, right now. Keep your eyes and your ears open; better still, keep your mind and your heart wide open.

And may you glimpse a beautiful sunset, every time the spirit moves you.