A Beautiful Sunset At Our House
I am always watching the sky to see if there might be a good sunset. Or even a good sunrise. But oftentimes the morning hours are rather hectic, which means that I do not often get to go grab my camera for a sunrise photo. Sunsets, however, are often different, as those occur when the day is winding down instead of when we are trying to race out the door to get to work in the mornings.
Here are a few photos from a recent sunset at our house.
On this particular day, Laura had a school function to go to at night, so we had all eaten together before Jaylin and I went home. We got there right as the sun had set, so I quickly went inside to get my camera and get a few photos, because the light outside was just magnificent. I always enjoy seeing the gradient across the sky when the sun has just gone down, and I was happy to capture that pretty well in this photo here.
The driveway in the foreground was also being lit by our front yard light, as well as getting some light from the sky. I always like how that makes the driveway rocks look purple, because in real life they definitely are not purple, but instead just a light gray. Add just enough of some colored light, however, and the driveway suddenly looks a completely different color. Just a little bit of the science of light and reflection, as well as turning up the color saturation in Photoshop to bring it all out more.
Because the light was nice, I decided to get a photo of the house as well. But maybe it does not look as good as it could. First, I could have put the garage door down before I took the photo, which would have made for a nicer view than all of the stuff that we keep in our garage. Fortunately, we still leave enough room to get our two cars in there, because that is the purpose of the garage, after all. And second, the grass sure did need cutting at that point. Or more precisely, the weeds needed cutting, since the actual grass is still mostly dead. We did get a chance to cut the grass on the Saturday after I took this photo, but I haven’t been out to take a similar photo since then. Maybe soon. If I do get that chance, I will be sure to put the garage door down, too.
Also, here you can see the front yard light that was lighting the driveway in the first photo. Although if you have seen many photos at all of our yard either here or on Instagram, you have probably seen that light before since I like to include it in my photos when I can.
As nice as the first view was, I think this last view is the best view. Even though only a few minutes had passed, the sun had already set even more, making the sky slightly more evenly illuminated. The front yard light was lighting the driveway even more than before since there was less light from the sky, and I liked the inclusion of the yard light here because it adds an extra little element to the photo. Nothing bit and flashy, or right up in the center of the frame, but something to add a little more interest.
Because it was starting to get dark, and because Jaylin was probably in the house wondering where I had disappeared to, that was the end of my photo-taking for the night. Maybe next time I will set up the tripod and get a few more evening shots when it gets even darker. But that will wait for another time.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works. - Psalm 104:31
About the Photos
As I mentioned above, the last photo is my favorite of the three, and here is a before-and-after view showing the adjustments that were made:
There was really nothing all that special about these photos, as far as taking them and processing them goes. I did make a few adjustments with Adobe Camera Raw when I opened the Raw files in Photoshop, but then I did not do much of any processing on the photos on top of that, as I usually do. That made these much quicker to finish, which is always nice.
Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8
Date: March 28, 2017
Location: Our house, Williston, Tennessee
