WrittenPost: Fading Light

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Fading Light

Some of my favorite photos have been taken in the early light of dawn.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Dawn, Helsinki Harbor, Sept-2013

I don't know why exactly. I'm not typically an up-at-daylight kind of guy, so I would guess that I see sunsets far more often than sun rises. Even further, taking photos at dawn can be rather tricky. You have no idea the night before how the sky will look hours later, so you plan ahead, and get up early, only to be disappointed much of the time.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Lighthouse, Aransas Pass, Texas, sunset, 16-Aug-2014

But with sunsets, you are looking at the sky and clouds in the afternoon, and have ample time to set up in a likely location, and capture the scene. So why do I get more rises than sets ? Don't know, maybe just a matter of chance, and of course, as always...time.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Well, this past weekend, I had a little "time". I had the pleasure of taking a short pleasure cruise, at sunset, from Port Aransas, Texas, around through Aransas Pass, and out to where the pass enters into the Gulf of Mexico.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Well, the boat captain was obviously paying attention, because he timed our journey so we would be lined up with this 130 year old light house just as the sunset got lively. He slowed the boat and kept us in position for several minutes, allowing multiple exposures of the evolving show.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In this case, what made the set up cool was the blazing sky, and something interesting to silhouette in front of it.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

But other times, the effect of the fading light is entirely different. In this case, the sun went down and the sky turned a beautiful blue-white.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

These windows and storefronts looked cool because of the many lines and geometric shapes, the warm light coming from the lower floors, and the windows reflecting the beautiful blue light from the sky.