Arizona Sunsets – An Unforgettable Flash of Colors
There are many opportunities to photograph sunrises and sunsets from the patios at Dwon By The River B and B.
Arizona sunsets are photographed and displayed all over the world. When I was growing up my mom received Arizona Highways Magazine. We loved looking at the photographs, especially the sunsets. I always thought that they were just too perfect and you might have to wait years to get those shots. That is not the case and I have taken some photos that I thought could be improved upon only to have something better a month later. Many people that look at these photos of Arizona Sunsets thought it was done with trick photography back in the day. Today photographers are accused of photoshopping the picture. While it may be true that some will do that, it really doesn’t need to be done with the opportunities we have here.
Colors vary with the sunsets and it depends upon many elements. The purple color here is rare.
The best place to observe sunsets and in the morning sunrises is out in the country away from the big cities. When you have a large unobstructed view of nature with cloudy skies you can have Mother Nature wash the sky in a palette of colors. Here in Cochise County, the setting sun can give the monsoon storm clouds that wash of color in reds, oranges and yellows intermingles with the light and dark grays along with the bright blues of the sky behind. There are times when there are a lot of the particulates that are in the air. When this happens the entire sky will take on a color or rose, orange or in one case an eerie purple red.
Colors of the sunsets can vary with reds, oranges and yellows being the predominate colors.
Sometimes there is such an expanse of color in the sky that you can’t take it all in. Believe me I have tried. I have taken panorama photos to be stitched together. The problem is that the colors change so fast that there is a demarcation line that is at every joint. One side is brighter than the other. There are ways of changing the contrast and brightness to make it become less noticeable but that can be a lot of work. But back to where I started with the Arizona Highway Magazine. But then I remembered that I could take a video of the sunrise or sunset and share it on YouTube. Click here to see one that I caught last week.
The clouds don’t always fill the sky. Sometimes there is only a portion of the sky that has color but something else is also there. In this case a crescent moon is at the top of the picture.
I have been watching Arizona sunsets for almost 40 years now. I can see the sky as it the day starts to end. Many times I will know if the sunset will be a photo worthy shot even before ht sun starts to set. You can get your camera set and be ready prior to the sun setting. When the lights start to reflect off the clouds and rays start to beam across the sky you are ready for the shots. The photographers that had their work featured in Arizona Highways Magazine were able to be at the right place at the right time because they planned it. There is some luck also involved but many times photographing Arizona sunsets is more about understanding what will happen by knowing the clouds and how they will look an hour later when the sunsets.
I have taken many Arizona sunsets and sunrises at Down By The River B and B over the years. Some were spectacular and some that I thought would be great were duds. Some that I thought were over would fade and then would have a second flash of color for a very short period of time. So watch the sky and look at the clouds then get yourself ready to take some awesome photos or Arizona sunsets. Oh one last note, all the photos on this blog were taken at the b and b over the last ten years. You can see others on our Pinterest page.
You can see rays come through during the sunset. This is cause by mountain peaks in the distance or other clouds in the way. Shadows will add definition to the sunset and give you another effect.
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