Sunset Magic That Almost Didn't Happen

This is something I will continue to repeat. If you've read any of my other posts (you should) you'll get the message: one of the most important ingredients to becoming a better photographer is ACCESS. I live in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, 1/4 mile from the Tonto National Forest. It's literally at my door.

Again, I'm not a landscape photographer but I'm considering getting more into it because of the access that I have. I get to see the desert do spectacular things. I routinely take my Jeep or Land Rover up to a spot the locals here call The Overlook. It's a beautiful little mesa overlooking a canyon with Camp Creek wash below.

Typically there are tour Jeeps out there and UTVs but today, nobody. Just me and a sunset that was looking really bad. The clouds moved in front of the sun just as it was setting. I thought the show was over but I stuck around hoping for some colors in the clouds. Glad I did. These 2 shots were a product of just waiting around for something cool to happen.

I was turned around shooting the other direction and I heard the motors of paragliders. I turned around and could see they were headed straight for me. I fumbled with my camera dials to get a silhouette with all the colors behind them. These guys came at me fast and I almost didn't get this shot because of their speed. I got one single frame and this is the result. I was so stoked.

Then, as I was driving my Jeep back down the hill, the sky was doing some really crazy things with color. Out of the window I caught this field of Saguaro cactus silhouetted by the colors. I pulled the Jeep over in a really sketchy spot, checked for snakes and shot this one. The colors were just awesome. And there were no snakes.

Shoot what you have access to. And you may say, "yeah, but I don't have access to the desert with all these cool sunsets and paragliders." 95% of the time, the desert is boring, brown and hot as fire. And, it's so familiar to me, I don't often find it that interesting. It's easy to take for granted what you have access to.