One of the advantages of having a few decades behind you is that, by luck or good planning, you may reach a time of life when you are more likely to be able pursue your own interests with fewer obligations to others. In recent years, I have often been able to take myself on a photo trip at short notice just because the conditions are right for taking photos. Sometimes that means sunny skies or the golden hour, sometimes it means a chilly dawn, sometimes it means a bitterly cold gale with a big swell at The Gap.
I had visited Castle Rock in the Porongurup National Park several times hoping to get pics in the golden hour but on each occasion, the sunset died in a bank of clouds. On this occasion in 2016, the forecast was right and I took the opportunity to drive the 70km and climb up the hill before sunset. The light was beautiful, but the pictures were a bit lifeless without people in them. Just as the sun began to set, I heard voices and two young women arrived at the peak, having driven from Albany to climb to Castle Rock and view the sunset. They arrived just in time, and I captured the top pic as they made it to their vantage point.
The next pic shows the view in the other direction shortly before the young women arrived. It shows a nice sunset glow over the landscape. It might have been improved by a human touch had the pair arrived a little earlier, but even without that element, the photo has been used on a few publications through my work.
Of course, one of the consequences of being out and about at such times is that you then have to get back to the car after dark. In this case it was a steep 1.5km walk on an uneven trail. Take a head torch if you know you will be out in after dark in unlit areas.
The luxury of being able to choose your time is also behind this photo. Capturing a photo like this is only possible for a few weeks of the year, around the summer solstice when the setting sun shines deep into The Gap. So at that time of the year, it is a privilege to be able to leave other duties at short notice and head out for photos just because there is a clear sunset.
I try to notice such things. I use a phone app called TPE, The Photographer’s Ephemeris. With location services turned on, it can show you the time, direction and trajectory of the sun from sunrise to sunset, and the moon from rise to set. It is accurate enough to help you determine if the moonrise is going to reflect off a body of water, or if the sun will set in line with a particular streetscape.