PINK Colorado Sunset!

for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I took a break from the noise, dust and commotion of the house to go and visit my mother-in-law. She is in a long term care facility (i.e. nursing home) that is about 40 miles away. She is confined to her bed now, and can not feed herself any longer. Her condition is considered terminal (aren't we all though), and is receiving hospice care. Even though her speech is almost unintelligible, we had a good visit. I also spent some time talking with her caregivers.

By the time I got home, I barely had time to walk the pups, make dinner, then go take a few sunset photos.

For this photo, I set the ISO at 800, f stop of f/18 with a 1/160 shutter speed, then bracketed 5 shots at a full stop. I did an HDR merge in Photoshop but I didn't like the result. So, I chose this shot as the best of the 5. I boosted the contrast a small amount and slightly adjusted the highlights to be warmer.

I realize that I need to spend a lot more time "playing" with Photoshop to really see how things work. I really do prefer to leave the photos as natural as possible, with the correct settings from the camera, but I also understand that there is a place for "shopping" a photo. So, little by little, I'm getting there.

I have been a little slow getting to everyone's blips the last few days. I hope to get caught up this weekend. I am also really excited because my book, "Within the Frame" by David duChemin came today. It's not a new book, but has been recommended to me by several people. I'm really looking forward to spending some quiet time reading.

Have a great one!

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