Friday, October 29, 2010

The day's last patch of colour

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON (Image ID:124-6437)


You know how you sometimes get a lucky shot? This was the perfect example. I shot this back in March this year. I was on a freeway, driving south into gathering darkness. I had hills in front of me, cloaked in the black velvet of warm night. But my rear view mirror? Ah, that was a different matter altogether ....

I could see a rapidly diminishing patch of sky behind me, reflected in my mirror, with a range of vivid colours. But I was certainly not going to pull off the freeway just to take a shot or two.

When I eventually came to my exit, the patch of colours had shrunk to a tiny area above the distant horizon. On the expanse of the exit ramp, in little or no traffic, I finally pulled over with plenty of space to spare. How lucky was I: instead of my normal 18-125mm lens, my camera had a 70-300mm lens fitted, so I didn't have to carry out a quick swap.

This was shot at the full extent of the 300mm lens - and yes, the telephone pole actually gave the frame a bit of character as I shot into the distance.

41 comments:

aims said...

Are those mountains along the horizon David?

I'm hoping to see something similar as a sunrise this morning!

aims said...

I have a question for your readers David.

Does anyone else get a 'permanent failure' come into their email when they leave a comment?

I can see my comment made it here just fine but for some reason it thinks I'm emailing you.

Anyone else?

Maggie May said...

What a blaze of colour in that sky. It looks on fire.
As a rule, I don't like telephone wires traipsing across a scenic view, but I have to agree with you, that does seem to add character.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Daryl said...

Fabulous ...

Rune Eide said...

As someone once said (and is often quoted): "Fortune comes to the prepared mind". You were prepared.

Brian Miller said...

wow. waht vivid colors...the orange and the purple play well together...

Sylvia K said...

Glorious skies and what a breathtaking way to wind down one's day! Superb capture as always, David. Wishing you and your family a great weekend! Oh, and I get the same message that "aims" refers, too????

Sylvia

imac said...

Neat work David, The God of Photos travels with you.

Betsy Brock said...

What a stunning sunset!

OJ Gonzalez-Cazares said...

it looks like the sunsets in Arizona... Tucson is famous for its purple-orange-pink skies framed by the Catalina mountains and lots of desertic flora. Great shot!

Akelamalu said...

Oh My! :0

Ayak said...

That is so beautiful!

Bernie said...

No such thing as good luck David, in this case a "good eye" as this is a beautiful picture and you knew just when to take it....Hugs

Rajlakshmi said...

wooaaaa that looks absolutely beautiful... really lucky indeed. Amazing colors :D

Saz said...

makes me want to paint it..though it would never look so good l'm sure.


saz x

Hilary said...

Wonderful. Amazing colours, aren't they?

Marguerite said...

What a gorgeous shot! Just fabulous! Thanks so much for stopping by and for the follow! Welcome back to Blogland!

david mcmahon said...

Hi Aims - no the purple outline behind those trees is actually low cloud! The hills were actually directly behind me.

david mcmahon said...

Hi Aims - the comments still publish, but I have a glitch when it comes to the add-on of having each comment appear in my email system. Will fix it as soon as I have time.

david mcmahon said...

Thanks, Maggie - and from where I was standing, this was the ONLY patch of colour, so the telephone pole had to make its way into the shot!

david mcmahon said...

Merci, Daryl - was hoping I'd make it to an exit with time to spare, before the colours vanished!

david mcmahon said...

Very kind words, RuneE. Thank you, sincerely.

david mcmahon said...

Thank you, Brian - I've only seen the orange and purple together a handful of times.

david mcmahon said...

Thank you, Sylvia - hope you have a great weekend too. Don't worry about the failure message - it just means there is a glitch in delivering each comment to my email.

david mcmahon said...

iMac, what a superb thing to say. I shall remember that and quote you, often!

david mcmahon said...

Thanks very much, Betsy - lucky tere was some colour left when I got off that freeway!

david mcmahon said...

That's exactly what I said, Akelamalu - I was hoping I'd make it to the freeway exit in time.

david mcmahon said...

Thanks very much, Ayak - it was a VERY long shot. Those trees were about 1.5km away from me, hence the haze.

david mcmahon said...

Thanks so much for your kind words, as always, Bernie.

david mcmahon said...

Thanks for that information, OJ - sounds like the place I'd like to visit the next time I'm in the US!

david mcmahon said...

Thank you, Rajlakshmi - I was mesmerised!

david mcmahon said...

Hi Saz, I often think the same thing. OK, you're right - I shall paint it, indeed!

david mcmahon said...

Thank you, Hilary - I was watching the colours diminishing as I drove and thought there would be nothing by the time I got to my exit!

david mcmahon said...

Thanks so much, Marguerite - great to be back among friends again!

cheshire wife said...

Nature is just perfect! You couldn't ask for better.

CiCi said...

Amazing the character a telephone pole can add to a photo. This is beautiful.

Jules~ said...

Oh David, what an amazing photo. The colors are so royal and rich. Thank you for sharing this one.
blessings to you today.

Eddie Bluelights said...

Brilliant shot David . . . . . love the colours. I have not officially thanked you for following my blog - I do so now and I am honoured ~ Eddie

Happy Frog and I said...

Thank you for posting such a wonderful shot. It is quite grey in England at the moment so it was a pleasure to see this.

Thank you also for your stopping by my blog, I couldn't agree more with your comment; so true! :-)

Butternut Squash said...

Holy cow! It's more beautiful than a black velvet painting.

Sniffles and Smiles said...

This is a real stunner, David!!! Nature paints a sunset in extraordinary colors, and you are there to capture it!!! Fantastic!!! Love it!!! Cheers!! Janine