Dusk Alternative – Shooting Sunsets Without the Sun
Lone Tree at Sunset, Weston, FL 2004
I’ve been chasing sunsets for some time now. Case in point, one of the earlier sunset images shot with my first digital camera, the Canon Rebel. Eager to see what this new technology could do, I followed a hometown sunset until locating a suitable scene to test the camera’s abilities. Driving west towards the setting sun I found myself at the far end of a local community park. The raised elevation of land that acted as a border of the park and the surrounding open fields, proved to be a great spot to isolate this one tree as the sun set behind it.
Although sunset is my favorite time to shoot, I very rarely actually shoot the sun itself, too cliché for my tastes. I usually wait until just after it sets and then capture the radiating light that illuminates the clouds. In this case, I isolated the silhouette of the lone tree and framed the scene with the glowing clouds above. Simple image, striking concept.
