Sometimes a great landscape photo simply lands in front of you.  Other times, you must seek it out.  Still others you must hunt for.  They won’t make themselves obvious for one reason or another.  This is the story of a sunset at Cedar Breaks National Monument and how I worked to find the right landscape scene to work with.

Thanks to how monsoon season worked out this year, I’ve found it difficult to go get new photos.  It rains a lot.  This increases flash flood danger in the area.  Even if I look for a higher elevation, I’m still daunted by cloudy skies blocking out the sun.  Moody landscape scenes can work out well.  However, I do want some variety too.

So, as things slowed down one day recently, I took the opportunity to drag my camera out someplace where I knew I need not worry about floods.  I went to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  I made it just in time for sunset too.

Upon arrival at my chosen viewpoint, I quickly realized I didn’t want to stay out there for very long.  The mountain winds blew cold against my skin.  My second discovery was that I was not alone.  I found a group of photographers visiting the area who set up in hopes of capturing the Milky Way over the cliffs.  Sadly, I wasn’t prepared for the long vigil of waiting for the Milky Way to rise.  I stayed for the sunset and that was it.

Still, while I was there, I really loved what I saw.  The sky lit up on lots of different ways as the sun set below the horizon.  I learned a long time ago that it’s not over until it’s really over.  So, I stayed until sunset was really over.  I’m glad I did too because the clouds lit up at different times.  I’d have missed out if I left early.

I like to fill holes in my portfolio.  Then I often bulk out an area.  Cedar Breaks needed some filling in so I was happy to make the trip.  Thanks to its orientation, Cedar Breaks is really only viable as a sunset location.  So, I’ll be back sometime to try for another sunset one day.  Perhaps I’ll try astrophotography too.