Against a Burning Sky
By Miles ·
A lone tree stands against a vast setting sun, its bare branches silhouetted beneath dark clouds and a fiery red sky near Okehampton, Devon.
Sometimes nature puts on such an extraordinary display that it's almost impossible to decide which moment makes the best photograph.
On this particular May evening, the setting sun transformed the sky into a spectacular mixture of fiery reds, glowing oranges and deep, almost black shadows.
As the enormous golden sun sank towards the horizon, a solitary tree stood directly in its path, its intricate branches silhouetted against the brilliant light. Above, dark layers of cloud stretched across the sky, their edges glowing red and orange in the last rays of the evening.
I was fascinated by the relationship between the tree and the setting sun. Using a long telephoto lens, I was able to make the distant sun appear enormous, with the delicate silhouette of the tree providing a striking contrast to its blazing disc.
I took several photographs as the sun descended, including another image from almost the same moment, which I titled A Tree Framed and Silhouetted by the Setting Sun. Despite spending time comparing them afterwards, I could never quite decide which I preferred.
Both capture something slightly different about that fleeting moment. The changing position of the sun, the shifting clouds and the subtle differences in framing give each photograph its own character.
What I particularly enjoy about sunset photography is that no two moments are ever quite the same. Even a few seconds can change the balance of light, colour and composition.
For me, this photograph captures one of those extraordinary evenings when the sky seems almost unreal, and all you can do is keep photographing until the last of the light disappears.
Perhaps some moments are simply too beautiful to capture just once.