End of Day(s)
By Miles ·
A lone mast stands against a fiery red sunset near Okehampton, its dark silhouette dwarfed by the sweeping bands of cloud above.
At first glance, this looks less like a September sunset and more like the opening scene of a disaster film.
The sky is an extraordinary mixture of scarlet, burnt orange and deep crimson, with great sweeping bands of cloud stretching across the horizon. The landscape below has almost disappeared into darkness, leaving little more than a thin black silhouette against the fiery colours.
Standing on the distant ridge is a solitary communications mast. Ordinarily, it would hardly warrant a second glance, but against this remarkable backdrop, its slender outline becomes an unexpected focal point.
The sun itself is nowhere to be seen, yet its fading light continues to illuminate the underside of the clouds. Darker bands interrupt the brilliant reds, while a particularly bright patch to the right of the mast gives the impression of flames rising through the sky.
I rather like the contrast between the man-made structure and the natural spectacle surrounding it. The mast seems almost insignificant beneath such an enormous expanse of colour, yet without it, the scene would lose something of its character.
Captured near Okehampton in September 2013, this was one of those evenings when the sky became far more interesting than anything happening on the ground.
It looked almost like the end of the world.
Fortunately, it was only the end of the day.