Saturday, March 21, 2009

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore

That's right. I'm back in Texas.

I moved back down just over two weeks ago to start a new job with the newspaper here in Crowley, Texas, just south of Fort Worth.

This image was made Saturday, March 20, outside the baseball stadium at Crowley High School, one of two high schools in the Crowley Independent School District. I'd finished up shooting the baseball game. I had my shots, was losing the light, and was headed back to the truck and, eventually, some much-needed Chinese food.

As I neared my ride, I saw a group of three people, headed down the path, directly toward the setting sun. I put one camera in the truck and headed back to shoot that image. But, of course, as soon as I got set up, they headed off the path and away from what would have otherwise been perfect position, against the setting sun.

But I still liked the image of the setting sun, so I positioned myself and made a few frames. Probably not as nice as it could have been with the people in there. But, hey, it's still a pretty shot.

I've had lots of arguments with different people over which state has the prettiest skies at different times of the day. I had one editor once who swore the sunsets in western Nebraska beat anything, anywhere else. More recently, I've had discussions over the skies in Iowa and Kansas.

I've seen sunsets in Chicago on Lake Michigan, in Europe, over the North Sea, New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean and over the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii. there is something about the masses of clouds over those vast bodies of water, glowing in the departing light.

But the bottom line, for me, is I can find amazing sunsets no matter where I am. I've seen stormy skies over the Flint Hills of Kansas and over the Badlands, east of Rapid City, South Dakota.

It's all in what you like, I guess. I just like sunsets.

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