"Blazing Glory"

"Blazing Glory"
©David A. Ziser

For today’s Image of the Day post, I want to re-visit one of my favorite sunset images.  The image was made about a year ago on a visit to Florida.  Here is the back story:  What can I say, the sunset was amazing. Part of our journeys on that trip included a stop at the Beach House Restaurant. LaDawn's son, Joshua, was getting married in Sarasota, Florida last March and we are co-hosting the rehearsal dinner there. Anyway, Shawn, the sales manager, one of the best I've ever worked with, BTW, was showing LaDawn the venue as I was poking around on the beach checking out a very anemic sunset, or so I thought. I clicked off a shot or two and thought I had an image good enough for today's post.

We wrapped up our meeting with Shawn, enjoyed a serving of conch fritters, a Florida west coast favorite, and headed for the car planning to head back to Orlando. I backed the car into the street and we pulled past the restaurant. What we saw next was absolutely amazing - the most blazing sunset either of us had seen in years.

I steered the car quickly onto the side of the road, asked LaDawn to park it, and ran across the street to see if I could grab some shots of this unbelievable sunset. I was shooting with Canon's brand new G12 and thought it would give me some good images.

Then it hit me, was I shooting in RAW or JPEG??!! I haven't had the camera long so I was unfamiliar with the menu structure. I saw I was shooting in JPEG and wanted to get to RAW as quickly as possible while the sun was still blazing. After fumbling through the settings for a few minutes, I found the RAW setting and quickly switched. The gorgeous sunset had subsided a bit but I kept shooting. BTW, this is one of the first JPEG images I made.

I knew I had something in the camera and couldn't wait to see them. This image is my favorite from the series. This post today illustrates how great images are sometimes made - unplanned, spontaneous, and in the heat of the moment. What would have happened if I had not been aware of my surroundings, stopped the car, and made an effort to capture this image and instead just looked at the sky, shrugged, and driven on? I would have missed one of nature's most glorious display of beauty.

I'm glad I leaped from the car, in the middle of traffic, and got the shot. We both just watched in amazement for the next several minutes as this cinematic wonder continued. It was a great end to a wonderful day!

Camera specs: Canon G12 with 6.1-30.5mm lens at 6.1mm (28mm – 35mm format equivalent), F2.8 @ 1/30 second, Program mode adjusted to -2/3's stop, ISO 80. Enjoy! -David