sunsetcolors' photostream

artwork derived from my sunset images can be viewed at

sunsetcolors.imagekind.com





welcome to the sets

Sunsets offer spectacular and extraordinary scenery. The different colors of the visible spectrum have varying wavelengths and they are scattered by dust, gas, and water molecules floating in the atmosphere. Blue and violet, with their shorter wavelengths, are scattered more intensely than red. During sunset, when sunlight travels farthest to reach the surface of the Earth, the red that filters through becomes more intense. This gives us the generally red and orange colors of a sunset.

Several other factors give us infinite variations. The sun shines with varying intensities during different times of the day and during different seasons of the year. The presence of clouds also adds effect to a sunset. Clouds appear at random in the sky in various sizes, shapes, and densities. They absorb, filter, and reflect light and emit awesome arrays of colors as rays of light strike on them at different angles.

Tropical sunsets over the sea are often beautiful and breathtaking. The sea reflects the colors of a sunset, doubling the vista to some degree. You can tell the intensity of light during a sunset by the quality of the colors being mirrored on the water. Calm seas reflect more light; rough seas, less. But deep or shallow, the sea seems to have its own way of interpreting these colors for even the stillest waters could reflect them with unfathomable effect. And the waves could be fierce or sober, creating reflections as unpredictable as they are.

A sunset is a work of art only Nature can create. It is a live show; it can change colors within seconds, oftentimes unexpectedly, and every scene that unfolds is always different from the previous one. However they change, they will never come back in time, never to be seen again. Gazing at a sunset brings tranquility and peace of mind. It soothes the nerves and makes one feel relaxed. It aids in reminiscing the past, in examining one’s thoughts and feelings, and in achieving new insights.

The aim of sunsetcolors is to promote the viewing of sunsets as a wholesome pastime. People need amusement as a means of relaxation, of relieving stress, and of renewing strength and spirit. A sunset is a picture that paints a thousand words in a language that everybody understands. For true admirers of beauty, even words are not enough to describe their feelings at the height of their admiration. There are countless ways to admire a thing of beauty and one sunset could mean different things to different people.

sunsetcolors

Sunsets occur everyday in every part of the world. There is a sunset going on at any given time in any given place. If a sunset could be said to last 30 minutes and half of these are fairly visible, 270 million people somewhere could be watching a sunset as this page is being read.

Yet sunsets are nearly always taken for granted. Most places with beautiful sunsets have promenades for sunset lovers but it seems only the old, the destitute, and the lonely love sunsets. This is not even saying that there are no old, destitute, or lonely people in places where there are no beautiful sunsets. But most of them would choose to seek solace or diversion in more crowded and noisy places to join those who are already there trying to overcome their angst, anger, sorrow, and frustration over broken promises, unrealized dreams, shattered hopes, and wretched lives.

Still pictures can capture a particular moment in an unfolding event at its most glorious, most sublime, or most beautiful. The challenge in shooting sunsets is to freeze that moment when the sky is ablaze with color, the clouds are in balanced positions, the sea is reflecting brightly, and the waves are in the right places.

A sunset can be viewed from an easy chair in one’s living room, or bed at home, hotel, or hospital, and it can be shown in places where people are forced to wait or remain idle such as elevator stops, ticket counters and terminals, where passengers are in flight or transport such as airplanes and trains, or where people simply linger or pass the time such as coffee shops, shopping malls, and public parks.

Sunsetcolors hopes to bring sunsets to people who love or need to watch them by publishing photographs of sunsets on this website. In our place the sky is like a huge theater where we can watch sunsets from balcony seats almost everyday. We are aware that not everybody is under this circumstance and we believe we could help others by sharing what we have. We also know there are those who just love to watch sunsets for contemplation or aesthetic pleasure. There might also be people who must watch sunsets as a form of therapy in order to relieve pressure or help alleviate stress-related health disorders. This is not uncommon in a world that is racing against the clock and overcrowded with people who are devising their way of life into something that is becoming unfit for themselves.

sta. filomena sunsets

Tropical sunsets over the sea are often beautiful and breathtaking. Some places are more favorable for viewing sunsets than others but only few can offer the best. One of these is the fishing village of Sta. Filomena in the town of Alegria. It is located in the southwestern coast of the island of Cebu in central Philippines. Viewed from here, the sun sets behind the mountains of Negros some 25 kilometers across Tañon Strait. Cebu and Negros lie parallel from north to south and the path of the setting sun lies perpendicular to the coast of Sta. Filomena for most of the year.

Like the rest of the country, the climate of Sta. Filomena is tropical and the seasons are divided mainly between the rainy (June to November) and the dry, over which are superimposed periods of high (March to August) and low temperature. The village is affected by the monsoons that blow from the southwest from May to October and from the northeast from November to February, though not much by the average 25 typhoons that strike the country every year. It lies near the equator and the path of the setting sun is noticeably to the north after the vernal equinox (starting in late March) and to the south after the autumnal (late September).

So we shoot sunsets from a vantage point. We know how our sunsets change colors from one moment to the next, day after day, month after month, year after year. Sky, cloud, and sea can already produce infinite variations. What more can the various other particles floating in space produce? The possibilities are endless from our particular vantage point alone. We need not move. We emphasize only the sunset and we do away with foregrounds and silhouettes as much as possible. One sunset can already tell different stories to different people. What more can be told by two or five or eight sunsets, or by this season’s sunsets and the next, or this year’s sunsets and the year before. The possibilities are endless from this particular point of view alone.

Are we already experiencing global warming? Our sunsets might tell. Is global warming a signal that this age is coming to an end? It seems we have all indications that it will. People continue to crowd our cities while governments wage a losing war against deforestation. What does it mean if a pound of burger can give only a sixth of the energy needed to put it on the table? We know a lot of families who eat right off the floor. What does it mean if our fish catches dwindle? Before, we drank from the tap, now we drink from the bottle. What about new virus strains? An aging population? What about unemployment, bankruptcy, poverty, suicide bombings and all? One sunset signals the end of day. It might be the last for one, or second to the last for another, or third to the last for still another. Each of us will surely have his or her final sunset.

We love as long as we live and a beautiful sunset is always a lovable thing. I would be happier if a beautiful sunset occurred on my birthday. Or on Valentine’s Day. Or even on Good Friday, which is very likely from our vantage point. I would be happiest if a beautiful sunset occurred every day, which is actually happening, but which we can only discover if sunset lovers around the world would share the sunsets from their own vantage points. Would you rather have a beautiful sunset on New Year’s eve instead of fireworks? Some natural or man-made phenomena can help produce beautiful sunsets. The volcanic eruptions on Krakatoa in Indonesia and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines did. So did the burning oil fields on Iraq in the aftermath of Desert Storm. Back in Sta. Filomena our fish catches continue to dwindle while our children flock to cities looking for jobs. And yes, we did have fireworks on New Year’s eve.

about me

i am a late baby boomer, widowed with one child. i am a certified public accountant, worked in a bank, and retired. i was also into foreign exchange trading, designing office accounting systems, and heading an accounting department. i love music, i sing and play guitar, i read philosophy, i write songs, and was among the semi-finalists in the 2008 uk songwriting contest see www.songwritingcontest.co.uk. i now live in the country and i shoot sunsets. i'm going to build a sunset gallery on the web. watch for sunsetcolors.com.