Is The Sky Afire?

Melbourne's Gearing Up For A Hot, Dry Summer

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes it's hard to predict what the evening sky will be like. Actually, let me amend that sentence. Most of the time, it is utterly impossible to work out what the sunset will be like.

But on Tuesday evening, when I took this sequence of shots, I knew we were in for something quite extraordinary. There was a clear horizon. There was a flaming sun. And there was a smattering of cloud. That's generally when you get some great colours, after the sun has sunk below the horizon.


Still, nothing can prepare you for the swiftness with which the colours ebb and flow - or how dramatically they appear. Nor can anything prepare you for how swiftly they vanish, leaving just grey streaks.

You have to be quick, you have to be decisive - and most of all, you have to be lucky. In this case, I was able to use the nearby plane trees as silhouettes, to highlight the sulphurous yellow that flickered across the wide expanse of Australian sky.


When I took this sequence of shots, there were several people on their evening walk. They were all concentrating on negotiating the hills, or lost in the music of their iPods, or simply engrossed in thought.

Not one of them was looking at the sky. Truly, I think they missed the best part of the day.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.