You've seen 1000 sunset photos.

The pretty kind that everything in front of the sunset is blacked out.

The beautiful warm orange tinged sky.

Ah...makes you want to run away...and never come back.

Have you ever wanted to replicate the shot?

I know I have.

A million times over.

But alas, in the Houston 'burbs, it is hard to get a pretty sky.

Much less a clear view of the pretty sky.

This weekend I was afforded the opportunity to capture a sunset.

A brilliant sunset.

Gorgeous.

Makes me want to run all the way back up to Clifton.

And steal some more shots.

I am by far not an expert.

I'm not even sure I can explain in proper terminology what I did.

But I will try my best.

I started with this shot.

I found a tree and put the sun behind it.

Wasn't sure how it was going to turn out but the objective

was to make the tree dark (no color) and let the sky be the color.

From there, I went on to put the sun on the side of an object.

I was on a caliche rock road that had some hills, hence the straight line at the bottom of the photo.

The side is some brush.

I liked the angle.

Boy, do I like this shot.

It was taken only a few shots after the one above.

The sun was really starting to set.

I let more of the sun come through this photo.

No special ISO or aperture setting.

{on any of these actually, just no flash}

Yes, this hurt my eyes but well worth it!

No fabulous setting here.

I shoot in auto quite a bit.

I just made sure that I didn't have the flash on.

I love the 2 orbs I caught.

I was actually trying for them.

Again, I positioned the sun to one side corner.

No flash and on auto.

It isn't hard to capture.

This was the first signs of clouds throughout the whole day.

The sunset caught them and I had to take a photo.

Finally, a barren tree.

The sun had dipped just below the horizon.

I put the tree in my frame using the rule of thirds.

No flash, on auto.

You don't have to be a pro to get some good shots.

Just the right opportunity.

And although I have a Nikon D3000,

now old & decrepit compared to the D7000 I am drooling over

I am fairly certain you could get photos like this with a point and shoot.

Curious about my lens?

I have a Nikor 55-200mm VR lens on for this shoot.

It is what I use 90% of the time.

But I need a new 18-55 mm VR...coming soon!

I just wanted to share a bit of my "hobby".

It is a true love of mine.

Something I don't get to do often enough.

Hope you all are enjoying MLK Day!

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Martin Luther King, Jr.