Evolution of a Sunset

For all the photos I've posted here, I haven't really talked much about my photography and how much I love taking pictures. Photography gives me an outlet for my creativity. When I get busy and don't use my camera for a while, I get this restless feeling inside me that says, "Time to break out the camera!"

The hardest thing is finding a subject that inspires me. I'm not much of a people photographer; I usually get peeved when people walk across a scene I'm trying to capture. As with other things in my life, I like bright vivid colors. Therefore I tend to like photographing sunsets and flowers and such. I also love clouds, especially after a storm. One subject I'd like to get more into is the night sky, the clouds and the moon. But for that, I need to invest in a tripod and possibly another zoom lens.

I've taken some of my best pictures from my parents' backyard. Aside from a great setting, luck, patience and persistence are also key to my capturing some of my favorite moments. To demonstrate, I thought I would show some pictures in progression on an afternoon last January (2005) where I was out taking photos.

I started out intrigued by the clouds after a storm and their reflection in the swimming pool:

After a little while, I noticed an interesting cloud formation moving in and some vivid color where the sun was setting:
I kept watching as the clouds moved in further and the colors changed:

After a while longer, the cloud formation and color reflecting off them became more vivid and I experimented with both wide angle and zoom shots:

After a while, the light started going and it became harder to get a shot with enough light:

It's amazing how the sky changes in just a short time. If I had just shown the first picture and the last couple, most people would not immediately think they were taken on the same day let alone within an hour of each other. It also shows the reward for patience. If I had gone inside after those first reflection shots, I never would have gotten those amazing later pictures...

***NOTE: I have been constantly changing the title of this post because I can't quite find one that fits the way I want it to....sigh***