Sunset Chaser

Sorry, folks, but I love sunsets!  Every sunset is so different and each sunset evolves moment by moment.  

Today was a girls' day out - yes, shopping.  I'm not much of a shopper, and I'm not very fond of malls.  But, every now and again, it is fun to shop with friends.  Shopping is not the goal, but the means to develop deeper relationships.  

After our shopping, as we were leaving the mall, I drove to the edge of the parking lot, got out, climb a small hill and started shooting pictures - of the sunset.  The girls were laughing at me because it was cold out.  But I had to stand and watch the marvel unfolding before me and capture the color explosion.  

Last night, I had downloaded a trial version of the Nik Efex Collection.  Basically these are plug-ins for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture.  So, when I took my sunset shots today, I bracketed 5 shots for HDR processing.  I used Nik HDR Efex to merge the shots together.  I selected the balanced version, the utilized some of the other collection tools to remove ghosting and sharpen the lower portion of the image.  

I had several nice shots, but this one I liked because of the contrails made by the jets flying at high altitude and also the snow on Mount Rose.  If you look large you will note the ski runs on the mountain.  

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!