The Life in My Years

Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does that make you feel? ~ Amy Grant

There aren’t many subjects that move a photographer like dogs, kids and sunsets and I don’t mean to impose any particular order on this distinguished trio of subjects.

Sunrise though doesn’t rate so highly. That’s not to rob from the beauty of a city sunrise silhouette…

…or the first blush warming a mountain face. One has to work for a sunrise.  The reward of capturing a mountain dawn means leaving the comfort of a warm bed in the chill of the predawn darkness.

“At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.”~ Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through it and Other Stories

Sunsets are more accommodating to the routine. No drowsy morning or the inner argument over catching the morning sun or a few extra winks of sleep.  Sunset often needs only a glance at the sky, a vantage point and a little patience. Some help from Mother Nature in creating the palette couldn’t hurt.

“The first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of color — oranges, pearly pinks, vibrant purples…”
~ Anna Godbersen, The Luxe

“Tonight the sun has died like an Emperor … great scarlet arcs of silk … saffron … green … crimson … and the blaze of Venus to remind one of the absolute and the infinite … and along the lower rim of beauty lay the hard harsh line of the hills …” ~ John Coldstream, Ever, Dirk: The Bogarde Letters

“There can’t possibly be anything more beautiful than Seaside Beach at sunset.”
― Bryn McCarren, Speaking Up for Each Other: A Collection of Short Stories for Tweens and Middle Grade Readers

“There is nothing is more musical than a sunset.” ~ Claude Debussy

While both sunrise and sunset are spectacular in their natural glory a little editing can add to the mood.  Below sunrise edited using a water color filter.

Renowned photographer Catherine Opie said, “The biggest cliche in photography is sunrise and sunset.”  In the words of Steve Martin, “Well excuuuuse me.”  If sunrise and sunset are overdone, so is this highbrow criticism.  There’s a reason that people photograph the sunrise and sunset – they’re both pleasing.  We don’t make images to please the pedantics – we make them to please ourselves and our audience.

This post is my contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Sunrise to Sunset.  To view Cee’s contribution and those of others follow the link to Cee’s site.