Autumn is by far the best time of the year for sunsets, with cold fronts passing just south of the continent, it means that we get the associated clouds while often not receiving the rain. Before most cold fronts arrive, there are preceding cirrus clouds (high level clouds). These cirrus clouds tend to make for some beautiful sunsets, and this long weekend the sky was certainly magical. Saturday night saw an average sunset, but on both Sunday and Monday, the sky was truly something very special. The sky had also been great last week when I took my other images in Gordon’s Bay and Stellenbosch.
As luck (or planning) would have it, I headed out on all three days and definitely managed to get some interesting new shots to share. If you have any hesitation as to why living in the Cape is great, let these pictures do the talking for you.
26 April 2014 – Strand Beach
The sky was clearing on this day after a cold front had brought rain in the morning. I met up with some individuals from the Helderberg Photography Facebook page, as they were having a get-together social shoot there. The sky, as mentioned above, wasn’t ideal – but it was definitely enough to grab some decent shots.
27 April 2014 – Steynsrust Area
I saw the sky was doing magical things near sunset and rushed out with my camera. I wanted to find a new location that had a good view of the basin, so I took some right turns just after the Lord Charles (coming from Main Road, Somerset West). I ended up at Steynsrust dam, which I had shot before in the past several times – but perhaps I could work it in a new way!
After Steynsrust, the light was already below the tip of Table Mountain and as such foreground lighting was difficult. I got in my car and headed back home, but as I was driving I noticed the sky getting more and more red and I just had to stop somewhere and get another shot. As luck would have it, through getting lost through some back roads, I ended up at the small dam along the R44 just above the Lord Charles Hotel. I managed to get a few shots before the light completely disappeared.
28 April 2014 – Gordon’s Bay & Strand
Another day, another sunset. I had my eye on the cirrus clouds all day and come 17:15 I hopped in my car and headed out, not really knowing my destination yet. I eventually decided I would head to Clarens Drive in Gordon’s Bay and see if I can’t find a spot with a good view of the Helderberg basin. I ended up finding a place to park off the road, and walked up a rather steep embankment, but at the top I had a fairly good view of the three cities (Strand, Gordon’s Bay and Somerset West). The sky was once again playing along.
After I ran out of light, things took an uncanny turn when I was heading home. As with the day before, the real colours only came out 5 to 10 minutes after the sun had set. I stopped off at Strand Beach and like the night before, managed to squeeze a few more shots out!
While crime may be increasing, while petrol prices may be rising – at least we have the sky to look at!
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