As the sun disappears, the last of its glow creates a searing edge of light on the brim of the clouds it adorns in colour. The vibrancy is bold, but the light is dim, creating a beautiful play of light and shadow of all sorts. The beauty of the sun is unlimited, and ever awe inspiring in her many forms.

At this time of year, we lose our daylight quite quickly, with that comes earlier, and longer sunsets. Colours become more vibrant, and variant in the transition of autumn to winter. This year our winter seems to be arriving much earlier, and the skies do seem to be hinting at that conclusion. My favourite part of these transitioning sunsets are the fleeting minutes when the sun has drifted below the horizon, and the light has dimmed down close to dark, all that remains are deep vibrant hues that saturate heavily around the area of the setting sun. It is only at that moment I can capture images like these.

For these shots I like to use a zoom lens on a tripod to get in tight to where the sun is dropping. I sit and watch, and wait as it slowly goes down. I monitor the settings every few minutes to ensure I expose the image correctly, as I want it neither too light, or dark as that would take away from the actual tone experienced in the moment. White balance is always a little tricky with these, sometimes I use a grey card to make sure I have set it correctly, but mostly I just compare the camera to the eye, and get it as close as I can, then fine tune in post production.

Here is to many more beautiful autumn sunsets, the ever warming light that guides us through the coming dark days of winter.

Charun Stone
Naturally Charun

Photographic prints, canvases, and metal prints of this image are available here in my sunset gallery, as well as many other beautiful captures of the Yukon sun