One of the few good things about winter are the sunsets. A quick google reveals that this is indeed the favoured season for photographers to capture these beautiful events: the sun is low and the phenomenon occurs not too late in the day.
However, I have long made a vow to myself not to be a sunset chaser. The nature of a sunset changes rapidly with the changing conditions. Generally, the colours get richer and richer the later the hour, but of course the intensity of the light eventually diminishes. In short, taken a photograph of the optimal sunset is a stressful, non-deterministic and time-consuming business. And I want nothing to do with it.
However, you do get those evenings when the light is just magic. A few months ago, the whole sky just exploded and the vivid colours lasted for hours. And this evening, a narrow band of land and sky around the horizon took on some amazing hues: with purple hills and traffic light orange skies. The colours below have not been photo-shopped.
The mast in the first sunset photo is a recent replacement that carries emergency radio signals. I am praying for a mobile phone antenna to be attached (mentioned as a possibility in the mast planning document) so the castle will finally get mobile phone reception. Before storm Arwen, the mast was hidden amongst the trees.
The second sunset photo shows a band of purple hills against a dark band of cloud.
As much as I am an avowed non sunset chaser, I did note with some satisfaction that the sunset diminished after I had taken the photos, despite the fact the sun was still above the horizon. :-)
And while outside today, I took a photo of the castle's new transformer. This was installed yesterday, by a team of 10 or so workers from Scottish Hydro, with a suitably long power cut during the day. All I could find to do was to clean and tidy the kitchen - that shows how desperate I am without technology. :-)
I was going to photograph the crew at work, which was fascinating to watch, but some castle emergency pulled me away.
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