Desert Sunsets

I’ve been taking advantage of some striking sunsets recently, beginning with two taken right outside the front door.

The first one was taken from the front yard and features a brilliant orange sky on a virtually cloudless evening.

During a recent visit by our son, Jon and his family we waited for the sundowns and went outside to witness the splendour of some beautiful skies. I captured this sunset on one such occasion, a colourful mix of sky and clouds shortly after the sun dipped below the horizon.

Last evening, Rolande and I went for a short drive to nearby Cave Creek to visit an old favourite spot for photographing the sunset. It’s very convenient in that I can drive to the end of a street to park, where there’s a trailhead for a track leading into the desert. It’s a hilly area, offering an elevated view to the west at several good locations along the trail.

While waiting for the sun to set, I took a couple of shots toward the east to take advantage of the sun’s warm light behind me.

This next picture was taken just before the sun set, while it still cast some warm light on the cacti along the trail.

Shortly afterward, as I backtracked to the car I took this final shot just as the sun had set. I was very pleased with the outcome since the contrast had became very difficult without any direct illumination of the foreground. I was able to composite this picture with two images, a lighter exposure for the foreground and a darker one for the sky.

Desert Sunsets are generally more colourful than at other locations, particularly urban centres. Following is an interesting explanation:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-are-desert-sunsets-so-colorful