Nature Photographers Network
This is the preserved archive of the original Nature Photographers Network. The community continues at naturephotographers.network.
WC 570 - sunset
‹ PreviousWeekly Challenge GalleryNext ›

WC 570 - sunset

by Rob Graham

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted February 6, 20131,322 views11 comments
This was taken in the fall of 2010, when there was still water in the pools of Cheyenne Bottoms WA, central Kansas. This Wetlands of International Importance is dry right now, but hopefully we will get enough rain this year to bring back the water.

Comments

11 comments
Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on February 6, 2013 at 11:05 PM
I absolutely love the peaceful mood of this. And the birds make it really special :toast:
Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on February 7, 2013 at 8:36 AM
Gorgeous sunset, Rob. I love it when you can get a lining on the clouds.

:toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on February 7, 2013 at 9:04 AM
Beautiful image, Rob. You caught lots of great detail, the backlit rim of the clouds, the crepuscular light above the cloud, the arc of birds and the scattered islands to add lots of interest in the foreground.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Carolyn Derstine on February 7, 2013 at 2:12 PM
Wonderful sunset shot, Rob! That sky is amazing with the rich color, sunrays, birds, and that amazing rim lighting on the clouds. Great foreground too with the varying grass areas scattered throughout. Well done! :toast:
Registered on February 16, 2011, 610 Posts, 3684 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Jones on February 7, 2013 at 4:21 PM
Great catch, expertly done. The top half of the image is spectacular, and the flying waterfowl add a lot of interest.
Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments
Comment posted by Barb Pflaum on February 7, 2013 at 7:32 PM
Beautiful scene! The sunset colors are beautiful. I love the backlit rim of the clouds and that one bird sitting all by himself in the foreground.
Registered on January 14, 2009, 316 Posts, 2724 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Graham on February 7, 2013 at 11:57 PM
Thanks, everybody. This is probably my favorite sunset photograph that I have taken. It hangs in one of the exam rooms at work, so I can enjoy it every day :).

For those who are curious, the "islands" are patches of cattails, the structure is a concrete hunting blind, the bird a cormorant, the flying birds are geese, and the water is only a few inches deep. The distance to the far shoreline is ~3 miles, and the hills are a couple more miles beyond that.
Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on February 8, 2013 at 8:55 AM
Amazing sunset sky.. glorious actually :smile:
The backlit rim, the birds, the marsh setting, etc. - Excellent! :toast: :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments
Comment posted by John Neukirch on February 8, 2013 at 8:21 PM
Really a beautiful shot Rob, the colors and comp capture the character of the scene quite well. It's been tough in this part of the country this past year with the drought. I visted Cheyenne Bottoms last August and found no water, in fact I don't think I saw any surface water on my whole route from northeast NM through OK and Kansas into NE. Not sure what you've experienced but up this way (southeast NE) with little or no water there has been little or no birds and wildlife.
Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Graham on February 8, 2013 at 10:30 PM
John, Quivira NWR is ~30 miles south of here. It is finally filling up and reporting good numbers of birds. I haven't been out to the Bottoms for a while, but we have had little rain so the only big birds out there will be raptors. I doubt there is much surface water at all.
Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments
Comment posted by Craig Myers on February 14, 2013 at 1:59 PM
Besides the striking color of the sky, I really like the contrast between the largely diffuse sky and the the sharply delineated cloud edges.
Registered on September 1, 2008, 85 Posts, 757 Comments