Favorite Photo of the Week: Snowy Sunset Surprise 1.15.12

This post is going up three days late. It has been a week of beauty, stress and challenges. As I mentioned before my absence, we had a snow storm hit Washington State. At my house we got 5 inches of snow and then an ice storm hit. It knocked out power and then more snow fell on top of that. We were without power for about 60 hours, but lucky enough to have a generator to keep us warm. Prior to the snow storm, I had dreamed of snow as we hadn't had any this winter. But I never could have imagined that it would be as much as it was. I have not been to work since Friday, January 13th and will finally get to go back tomorrow January 24th. 3 of the schools in our district are still without power, which is an indication of just how bad this storm was.

My favorite picture from the past week was the shot I took before the worst of the snow hit. We had done some exploring and were driving back home. If you follow along you know I LOVE sunsets, but I was resigned to the fact that I would not be able to get a sunset shot due to the snow clouds. So when I glimpsed the sunset I had to pull over and shoot it. It was so unexpected and one of those shots that I didn't know I really wanted to capture until it presented itself. It felt like a dream. My goal was to capture the snow and the colors of the sunset. In processing, I removed some distractions and played with the basic settings.

I hope to get back on track now that the stress of has began to ebb. I hope you have been staying safe and warm!

Settings: ISO 400, 32mm, ss1/6, f/8.0 (full manual, tripod)

"I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before." - Robert Mapplethorpe