Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April 14, Warrenton and Astoria: Beautiful sunset sky, beautiful light

I took this photo just outside the Columbia Fitness Center in Warrenton, just across the Youngs Bay Bridge from Astoria. It's a swampy area alongside the river, so there's a lot of plant life there.

I took this picture from the same location. It's less dramatic, but I like the image and the colors. The clouds were beautiful this evening, and the light was really nice. It was just after 7:30 p.m., so it's clear that the days are getting longer. During winter, it's dark by 5 pm, and in summer, you can still see light in the sky at 10:00. I enjoy the changes we get this far north.

I took this pic just before 7:00 p.m. as I was getting ready to go to the gym. The light had that special quality that told me there could be a really good sunset. You never know what form it will take, but a certain mellow quality in the light and certain moisture in the air usually give interesting results. It's better for ship photos, too, because there's less contrast. Too often, the white "castle" on the ship burns out, and I'm not good enough with the camera controls yet to get it right. When I exposed for the castle in some experiments the other day, the rest of the photo went dark. Anyway, I love this lighting.

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