It’s been a long time coming, but I was actually able to throw my cameras on my back, point the truck west, and venture out for a sunset photo!  It felt great to finally hit the road and take a few shots.  Okay, I took more than a few, but I still fell just short of achieving my 30,000th photo through my newest camera.  The other one stayed in the truck this time.

At first it looked like there wasn’t going to be much of a sunset, as clouds began to obscure the horizon and the sun with its color-splashing rays.  If there’s anything I’ve learned from photographing North Dakota at sunset, however, it’s patience.  Things can change…and change they did, as the clouds began to move off and the color returned.

Okay, I got the color taken care of.  Now it was time for some unique clouds to roll through.  This batch of cotton balls came by while there was still some light left in the sky and the sun wasn’t yet obscured on the horizon.

The purple colors provided this late in the game were a welcome surprise.  Shortly after I snapped this one, those fleeting colors were gone.  That’s okay…my rule for deeming a “successful photo trip” is to bring back one photo I’m really pleased with.  This time I brought at least these four.

It feels good to get back into the swing of things.  As for my Canon 7D sitting at 29,998 exposures, I have a great plan to blow past the 30k mark in style.  Stay tuned.