During my travels this week, I was able to take advantage of some dramatic southern sunsets. The first was captured from the rental car bus heading to the terminal at Dallas Love Field. I was the only passenger on the bus and the driver offered to make a short stop in a spot that would allow me to grab a few shots of this beautiful sunset.
Exposing for the highlights (the bright sun) meant that the shadows would go black. A few quick edits in Adobe Lightroom brought out the shadow detail. I added a gradient adjustment to the upper half of the image to bring down the highlights and add a bit of vibrance to the colors.
My next trip took me to Alabama and Georgia. I used every bit of daylight to shoot while I was in Montgomery, AL before heading east into Georgia. This magnificent display was in my rear view mirror … prompting me to pull off onto the center shoulder so that I could get a shot. The fullness of the clouds adds as much drama to the image as the brilliant orange glow of the setting sun. The same adjustments and considerations from the first image apply to this one.
