Sharp-eyed bloggers may remember this theme offered by the now-defunct WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge a few years ago. I thought it would fun to challenge ourselves again by sharing our images of sunsets and sunrises as we celebrate yesterday’s solstice.
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
Jo Walton
I scoured years of images from my Dropbox files to find a variety of sunrises and sunsets. Apparently, I capture many more sunsets than sunrises. This time of year, in Northern California, sunrise comes quite early, 5:40am! I rise at about 6:30am most days in the summer. Sunset on the solstice was 8:33pm, with last light at 9:05pm. Plenty of time to capture sunsets.
To help inspire you, I’ve chosen new and previous images of sunrises and sunsets.
Sunrises
“The secret to a good morning is to watch the sunrise with an open heart.”
Anthony T. Hincks
How about a foggy Malibu sunrise to start your day?
I shared a version of this sunrise from Spokane, WA in February. This was post-edited with the Painnt app.
Sometimes a sunrise looks best with its light shone on the subject and reflected in the windows as depicted in this sunrise in Baja, Mexico.
This one shows the sunrise in the Mojave Desert near Victorville, California. We stayed with friends at their home on Silver Lake. The countless ducks enjoyed feeding on insects common with the sunrise.
Sunsets
“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
My sunset images have a theme…they show the setting sun over water. The first photo is the Painnt version of a sunset in the Sacramento River Delta.
Another delta image shows us enjoying a sunset paddling session near the end of summer. Notice there were no wind turbines in the nearby hills then.
In this view of San Diego’s harbor, the setting sun highlights the downtown high-rise windows and creates a gentle reflection on the calm waters of the bay’s surface.
The final image is one of my favorites, from Hilo Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii. I called a similar image “The Lonely Fisherman.”
I used LightRoom to edit the lighting in this photo and added a sunflare in the post-editing process.
To sum up the idea of Rise/Set, I offer this quote by John Muir:
“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”
Did you know the WordPress Weekly Challenge Photo pages are still available to view? Here is the link to 2018’s Rise/Set.
Does a sunrise or sunset bring you a quiet moment? I’m pleased to link this post to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, A Quiet Moment.
What is your favorite time of day? Does the sunrise kick start your day and provide you with inspiration? Or are you an evening person who chooses to linger over a sunset with an adult beverage? Saturday’s solstice meant you had to be up very early or stay up rather late to see the sunrise or the sunset. Did you see both?
If you enjoyed seeing sunrises and sunsets, you might like these previous post:
Sunday Stills: #Early to Rise
The word “early” invokes a variety of quotes, phrases, and conditions. Let your mind run wild with these concepts of early: Are you an early-bird, an early riser, or just love being early to events? Were you highly intelligent at an early age or naïve in your early years? Perhaps you are a “later-in-the-day” person…
I can’t wait to see your favorite sunrises and sunsets!
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