Friday dawned sunny and clear, a nice change after several days of gloomy skies and rain. I had an obligation that would take me to Bellingham that day, about 90 minutes north of Seattle, and I cooked up a plan that looked like this: I’d take care of my obligation during the afternoon, then drive to a nearby viewpoint I know to photograph the sunset over the San Juan Islands.
The sky was so clear I actually found myself hoping a few clouds would develop, just to make the sky a bit more interesting. Mother Nature accommodated, and also gave me this teaching:
Be careful what you wish for.
Clouds began to build in the early afternoon, and by the end of the day the blue sky was pretty much gone. Things got so socked-in that I figured the sunset would wind up being drab, and I considered just driving home and bagging my plan for a sunset photograph. But a plan is a plan, so I drove to the viewpoint, set up my tripod, and waited.
You can see above that I was rewarded (sort of) for being a True Believer. A bit of sunset light did paint the sky, and I was able to make a reasonable image (click on the pictures to see them at a larger size.) The photographic experience reminded me of a similar evening about a month ago, the night of the rising of the big, “super-moon.” Clouds were something of an issue that night as well...and I guess I must make this admission to Mother Nature:
Sorry my lady. We photographers are a tough audience.
