Desert sunset behind the mountains

Several individuals helped me find a location to capture a desert sunset behind the mountains near Phoenix. Previous recent attempts resulted in failed attempts to combine the setting sun with the mountains due to the lack of open space in the Phoenix area.

So, we drove about 12 miles north to a beautiful, open expanse of desert which offered almost 360 degrees of mountains.

golden desert sunset with mountains
Mother nature was showing off while offering this beautiful gradation of color behind these mountains. Larry Shapiro photo

As the sun set lower and lower, the colors became more intense with the radiant from gold to the remaining blue of the sky.