The setting sun reflects over the calm water of Lake Waco this week, a scene that attracted dozens of motorists who pulled over at Koehne Park and Lake Shore Drive.
During a stressful news cycle like this past week’s, the best thing to do sometimes is put down the phone, turn off the TV, go outside and bliss out to the autumn sunset.
The evening sky during this election week caught the attention of Tribune-Herald photographer Rod Aydelotte and that of popular Waco nature photographer Brian Boyd, who blogs at brianboydphoto.com/Images-of-Waco.
“Every year from now to the end of the year seems like the clearest time for sunsets,” Boyd said.
Lake Waco reflects a vivid sunset in this photo taken this week by Brian Boyd.
Science backs him up on that point. Clear air is the key to vivid sunsets, and that is more abundant in fall and winter, according to a 2014 publication by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, written by Oklahoma-based meteorologist Stephen Corfidi.
“Because air circulation is more sluggish during the summer, and because the photochemical reactions which result in the formation of smog and haze proceed most rapidly at that time of the year, late fall and winter are the most favored times for sunrise and sunset viewing over most of the United States,” Corfidi wrote in “The Colors of Sunset and Twilight.”
The last rays of sun travel thousands of miles before they reach us, passing through air molecules that scatter the blue and violet light, leaving reds and oranges. In fact, the very phenomenon that causes a deep blue daytime sky on the west side of the U.S. can make for a red evening sky on the eastern side, according to the publication.
The sun sets over spires on a Baylor University parking garage.
Clouds are another ingredient in an ideal sunset, and the best are high clouds such as cirrus and altocumulus clouds, which reflect light that has not been muddied by dust, haze and pollution in the lower atmosphere, according to Corfidi.
Boyd also said clouds are an essential part of the picture, and photographers often need to wait long enough to see them light up, sometimes after the sun has slipped past the horizon.
“A lot of people leave as soon as the sun goes down, but the scene doesn’t really pop until the sun has gone beyond the horizon,” he said.
The sun goes down over Dubl-R Fields at Riverbend Ballpark in this file photo.
It is also important to avoid overexposing the picture and “blowing out” the rich colors.
“I think the most important thing is to find the right location,” Boyd said.
He staked out a spot Wednesday at Lake Waco to shoot sailboats against the red evening sky.
“You need a good foreground, a tree or lake or a rock in the water,” he said. “Just taking a picture of the sky doesn’t do it.”
A vivid autumn sunset is reflected this week in Lake Waco.
Motorists travel up Lake Shore Drive as the sun sets over Lake Waco this week.
Brian Boyd used a drone to capture a sunset over Lake Waco, with a sailboat just beyond the Twin Bridges.
The sun sets over Magnolia Market at the Silos.
JB Smith
Managing editor
J.B. Smith is the the Tribune-Herald managing editor. A native of Sulphur Springs, he attended Southwestern University and joined the Tribune-Herald in 1997. He and his wife, Bethany, live in Waco and have two children.
