snow covered mt hood hike oregon alpine photography october 2023

Any Light

A Sunset That Almost Didn't Happen

The whole day looked like a write-off. Flat gray from morning on, the kind of Pacific Northwest overcast that makes you want to leave the camera at home. I almost did.

Then about five minutes before sunset, the cloud deck cracked open right at the horizon and the whole sky went amber. I got maybe a dozen frames before it closed back up. Two of them are in the portfolio now.

That's the lesson I keep re-learning: the forecast doesn't get the final say. You show up, you wait, and sometimes the light shows up too. Any light, right?