A not so unusual question is “Travel or not to travel?” to photograph beautiful sunsets. I will hope to give you some idea of what you can achieve from your own living room or for that matter close by where you live. And before you say “my view is nothing like that”, there are still tricks that can let you photograph sunsets by just walking a few minutes down the street, up to the top floor of the building, into a garden or park… I hope you get an idea. If you live in a city take a look around see where the sun sets and how you can get a good view. If it is from your apartment, it makes it very easy.
The below series of images are from a living room of an apartment complex. My camera is always ready to be picked up for a photoshoot, so if you are serious about capturing moments in life make sure that yours is also.
The second set of two images show quite stunning texture of the clouds, fabulous color and light. There was no travel involved and the pictures turned out very interesting.
If you do travel to some of the most amazing National Parks, there are sites which are recommended to see at sunsets or sunrises. Look at the maps, ask the rangers, check on the web. While travel photography and landscape photos are frequently astounding, remember one thing, the photographers frequently spend a few days trying to capture this one perfect moment you are admiring now. When you travel, most often you may not get a perfect weather, too many or too few clouds. So can a beautiful photo be taken during a normal family travel? Yes, just try to focus on what and when to photograph. Plan ahead of time where you want to go and explore some photos online to try and figure out what would be the best spot to get the view you want. Once you are on site you will probably change your mind, as to what you want to photograph.
Before my trip to Arches National park I knew of two locations I definitely wanted to photograph. The first, perfect for sunsets – Windows at Arches and the second, for sunrises – Delicate Arch. Sunset was quite interesting with few clouds over the arches but the setting sun changed the illumination of the rocks, altering the color.
The moment of the perfect light on the rocks. Stunning color lasted just a few seconds.
This image was taken while waiting for the sunset light to focus on the windows. Colors are very different, partly because of the angle of the sun but also due to the clouds in the sky.
Within minutes sun is hiding beyond the horizon, beautifully colored windows become dark and uninteresting. At the same time cloudscape on the horizon is capturing everyone’s eye.
In order to finish this sunset series, I wanted to share one more image with you. This one is a Lumia 950 image of lake Champlain in Vermont. Great destination for those from outside Vermont. However, if you live close by, this can be your perfect sunset location. The sun is going down behind the mountains on the west bank of the lake but the light is still visible in the sky.
Enjoy taking pictures of sunsets and if you take any, you can tag me in your images on instagram.
Agnes Caruso Photography 