32 Minutes

A few weeks ago I was going through some older images from our trip to Bryce Canyon back in 2015.  As I looked at the images I realized that several of them made a nice example of what happens to light on the edges of the day - in this case sunset - and why Ann and I try to photograph during those periods.  It’s also a lesson on why patience and waiting can be so valuable with photography.  So here’s how much the light can change in 32 minutes!

These images are from Red Canyon, which is just to the west of Bryce Canyon National Park.  We’d driven by the area earlier and decided we should try to photograph it as the sun set given the western-facing rocks.  

This is taken at 6:40, not too long from sunset. You can tell it’s sunset from the glow off not only the cliffs, but the bushes as well.  That, and the very long, near horizontal shadows being cast.

Twelve minutes later (6:52) the sun had set and everything seemed a bit lifeless.  I had re-framed my image and took a picture anyway, because you never know.  I should have known it wouldn’t amount to much.

Still, I had my shot set up and all that was left for me to do was wait (despite the fact that our colleagues had packed up and were themselves waiting at the car, occasionally making (un)intentionally loud statements about what was taking me so long, letting me know they were ready to take off).  But I had my agenda and it was to see if there was any post-sunset afterglow.

Fortunately, I only had to wait another 19 minutes (7:11).  The sky slowly started to darken just a bit, adding color to the skies, and the ground started glowing.  This is what I was waiting for.

Fortunately, as I made my way back to the car and the ribbing from my colleagues (and Ann) about keeping everyone waiting, I knew that I had what I had waited for, which made it a lot easier to laugh them off!