Why It's Worth It

OK. Here's a side benefit to the loss of Daylight Saving Time: I am usually sitting at my desk when the sun goes down. And, at this time of year there are usually some phenomenal sunsets.

So, I'll apologize now. You're probably going to see a lot of these during the next few weeks. Confession: I am a sunrise/sunset FREAK. Here's hoping you enjoy them. I know I did!

Wordless Wednesday

I've seen this done on several other blogs but never tried it. Seems like today is the perfect time.

Here's the "money shot" from last night, followed by the best of the rest.

When I first looked at the shot above in playback, it looked like little specks of dirt were all over the screen. Look again. It's birds heading home for the night!

I don't know. I was all hyped about the shot with the birds, but I'm thinking maybe this last shot might be the best one.

This was incredibly fun and I'm very pleased. Thanks again for the indulgence. (It's me. You had to know it couldn't be completely wordless, right?)

Indulge Me

OK. So I wasn't going to post again until tomorrow, but remember the kid in the candy store ...

I got these -- and then some on the way home. Sharing just a few tonight. A prelude to what's to come.
I love this shot. If you look at a bigger version, it almost looks as though the sun got tangled in a spider's web!

Those buildings in silhouette are part of downtown St. Louis. What's sad is that by the time the skyline is completely clear of brush from this vantage point, you can no longer see much of the skyline, including the Arch, which is far off to the right, off screen. What I love about this shot are the CLOUDS. Aren't they cool?!

Pretty, isn't it? I was about to lose my mind. And the best part is that, other than resize, and minor brightness adjustments and cropping on a few, I did nothing to these. You're seeing them as they are. And these don't even include what was the "money shot" for me.

That's it for now. Thanks for indulging me. This is probably going to be happening a lot. Just sayin.'

In All Its Splendor

For several days now I’ve been witness to some pretty amazing sunsets. It’s one of my few consolations about the time change. Since I’m still at work when it happens, and I have access to some of the coolest high-rise vantage points to see such things, it’s something I might otherwise miss.

But every day I’ve watched from my little corner window and wished I had my camera. Yesterday, I actually had my camera with me. (One of my colleagues just marked 30 years with the company and we threw her a surprise lunch, so I took a few shots during that.)
As sunset drew nearer, I waited expectantly. I saw some pinks start to appear, but then just as quickly, they were overtaken by cloud cover. Damn. And I had my camera handy, too!

So, I went back to what I was doing. A few minutes later, I looked out again to see a huge orange stripe being burned into the sky. Pinks, blues and purples surrounded the backdrop of downtown. Oh. My. God.

I grabbed my camera and ran to the conference room at the west end of the hall that is filled with windows. (From my window, I could only see a sliver of it all.) From the conference room, it was like colors has exploded into the sky. As I ran, I tagged my assistant. She already knew what I was going to look at! Pretty soon, a few other coworkers came in, too.

This is some of what I shot. They’re pretty. Some are a little out of focus, but you can still see the colors. (It’s through glass without a flash and I guess I didn’t stand perfectly still.) But even these don’t accurately capture what I saw.

One of my coworkers pointed out that the colors are something to do with the atmosphere. Yes, I said. It’s gases being released or something like that. Or at least that’s what I’ve read.

At times like this though, I prefer to believe that it’s a higher power making his presence known, flexing a creative muscle, and maybe even showing off a little bit.