Not every sunrise or sunset is going to be spectacular.  Depending on what part of the world you live in, execptional skys may truely be the exception, instead of the norm.  Here in Northeast PA, we get a good number of the amazing ones, but still more that are average, or less.

So what happens when you don’t have the light you want?  Well, either you sit home and watch TV reruns, or you go out anyway and try to (here it comes…) make the most of what you have.

This whole concept of “Making the Most of What You Have” keeps coming back in my posts because it keeps coming back in my life – which has helped make me a firm believer in it.  Somtimes – quite often, in fact – conditions are not ideal.  Now, if you’re a brain surgeon, maybe this makes a difference.  But as a photographer, ideal conditions are just that – ideal.  But not necessary.

Take the photo above: I drove up to Lackawanna State Park one evening about a week ago.  I got delayed in leaving, hit traffic in a construction zone, and by the time I got there, the sun was below the hills and what little color there had been in the sky was mostly gone.  Bummer.  But I’m already there, and I’m not about to drive home without making at least a few images.

At times like this, you have to be your own motivation.  The urge is strong to say, “The light stinks – to hell with it.”  But you’ve got to fight that urge.  Do you think that Robert Capa went home when the light was bad?  How about Moose Peterson – does he give up when the conditions aren’t ideal?  Not likely.

In my case, there were no strong colors left in the sky, and the light was falling off fast.  (They call this time of day “twilight” – not to be confused with that horrid book series.)  So no bold colors?  So what – I don’t want bold, I want subtle.  I want pastel.  I want the colors Monet used when he painted that scene along the riverside.

The challenge of the evening became makeing a photo that showed the scene as I saw it – accurately capturing the exposure, the contrast, and the color of the evening on the memory card.  (Funny how that doesn’t sound as good as saying “on film.”)

I didn’t take many shots, and only kept three of them.  They are not loud, bold, attention-hogging images.  But they are subtle and done in pastel colors, and I’m pleased with the outcome, and with the fact that I was able to make them.  I’m also pleased that I had a chance to get outside and work with the camera and the land.

Better to come home with something – anything – than come home empty handed.  Or worse yet, to have stayed home and been miserable.