While driving south along Highway 85 towards Ajo, Arizona, I noticed some really cool rock formations in the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. Unfortunately, because it’s an air force range and they do air-to-ground bombing practice, you’re not allowed in.
In fact, when we drove by there were A10 Warthogs shooting 30mm canons at targets. It was quite an impressive sight to see!
There’s a fence that blocks access to most of the interesting rocks, and after seeing target practice I knew I wouldn’t be hopping the fence for photographs. Still, you can see quite a bit from the road and along the fence line, so I tucked this location away in my mind for a future sunset shot.
A few days later, I could see some good clouds forming in the sky and the horizon looked clear, so I knew there was a good chance of seeing one of the sunsets the desert is famous for.
I went back to the air force range well before sunset and scouted out some interesting rocks and cacti I could frame for my sunset shot. I thought I struck gold when I got this one:
After that, things fizzled out a bit and I asked myself “should I stay or should I go?”. Lately, my rule of thumb on that is that I answer “stay” at least the first three times I ask myself that question! Here’s why:
These are just some of the images I made that night. Of course I have a whole bunch of landscape oriented images too and some using a wider focal length. But I chose these 4 photos with similar compositions to demonstrate how important it is to wait for the moment. Over half an hour went by in between the first shot and the second shot. The skies can fizzle right out and come back to life over the course of the golden hour.
During the moments in between, I try to improve my composition and try different focal lengths and perspectives. You might notice in the third image, the prominent cactus on the right is missing. That’s because I got up in the bed of the truck for a higher perspective so the cactus fell below the mountain. I also took my camera off the tripod for that shot, so I increased the ISO so I would get a faster shutter speed for hand-holding the camera. I decided I didn’t like that perspective as much and went back to ground level.
I still think I might like the first one the most because it is so dark and moody, but I sure am glad I stuck around and waited for all the incredible moments to come in this amazing desert sunset.
Beautiful shots and thanks for sharing. It’s so true, the importance of patience. Be it landscape, nature or other, I have never kicked myself for spending “too much” time waiting fot that shot but certainly have wondered more than once…. what did I miss.
Thanks again.
You’re so right about patience. We were in Joshua Tree a couple of weeks ago and decided to pack up and head home after thinking the best of sunset was over. We subsequently missed some glorious color.
I like all your images above, but happen to prefer the third shot over the others. I found the cactus distracting (or perhaps it is my prurient mind 🙂
Pretty exciting when you were able to get such amazing shots after being patient and waiting through the golden hour! Incredible!
At sunset, always wait. If there are clouds you will be rarely disappointed. We ere in Death Valley last fall when I packed up to leave a spot, but before I could drive away, the sky exploded in colors. I had to get out an set up again.
Hi Anne,
Been reading and watching Love Your RV. Joined RV happy hour and after a month or so, have just discovered your page.
Really enjoying your photos and reading your stories. I was looking at buying another camera with more MP but after reading your article you mentioned something that I hadn’t even considered. The more pixels on the same size senor, makes the pixels smaller. I have been shooting with the 12MP Nikon D-300 for about seven years. When I bought the camera, it was near the top for the biggest pixels. I just stopped looking for a new camera, thanks. Its hard to believe how much the mirror popping up vibrates the camera. My camera has a function that will pop the mirror up and wait for three seconds and then take the pictures. I have never looked into the mirrorless cameras. I don’t know if I can give up looking thru the lens. Maybe someday.
Hope to see you and Ray out in the real world then the wife and I start hitting the road come next fall. Take care and look forward to seeing your pictures.
Your photos are always amazing…but the insight from something like this:, “Lately, my rule of thumb on that is that I answer “stay” at least the first three times I ask myself that question!” helps all of us.
The reason this blog is so valuable is because Anne is so transparent.