It was the very last light of day. I had been out shooting, without much luck. I had even done a short hike over a stretch of upland prairie, looking down into sheltered coulees and draws, feeling the biting wind, then scooting back to my car with fingers burning from the cold.
When I saw these horses grazing along a fence line, the light was fading away, barely touching them, but to the east, the sky and hills were pink. There was no time to close the gap; if I had walked across the field to get closer, the background light and remnants of foreground glow would be long gone. Luckily my 500mm was handy, so I just raised the camera and shot away. Moments later, the scene faded to grey. Timing is everything.
Well, maybe not everything. Where we point our cameras also matters. Have you noticed how all sunsets look the same? That is a gross generalization, but it "generally" holds true. Sure they can be beautiful. But I am more interested in the quality of light and how sunset light looks on the land. I could have pointed my lens at the sinking sun and captured yet another shot of it - to add to the thousands already in my collection. Nothing wrong with that. But by looking in the opposite direction, to the east instead of the west, I nailed a shot that is unlike anything in my files. It may not be the ultimate horse-in-pasture shot, but I sure like those snowy, pink hills glowing in the background.
Photographed near Hwy 18, at the turnoff to Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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