Photo: A pure golden sunset looking west from Ka’anapali, Maui facing the island of Lana’i.

I’m sure they have stunning sunsets all over the world, but the place I first truly learned to appreciate the majesty of day’s end and night’s arrival was, of course, Maui.

Of all the trips we’ve taken there (5 and counting), this has to be in the top 3 of my favorite sunsets.  Particularly, I love the distinct shape of the sun and the glowing rim it places on the most adjacent clouds.  Team that up with the strong orange hues and the higher clouds at the top, and you have a pretty nice image (in my opinion, anyway).

Don’t Try This At Home

One of the things that continues to strike me every time I see this image on a computer screen is just how bright that sun is in the capture. It’s almost as if you need to wear sunglasses just to view the photo. 8)

Then it dawns on me (pardon the pun) that I was probably an idiot for looking directly towards the sun to get this shot. Not to mention the fact that it was shot at the long end of my 70-300mm lens, either. It might even be a small miracle that I still have my vision!

In any case, grabbing your longest telephoto lens and running out to shoot the sun is not something I’d recommend without doing research and taking safety precautions first. While shooting the sun close to the horizon is a little less intense than shooting it at high noon, it’s still dangerous and should be approached as such.

After all, the last thing you want to lose as a photographer is your vision.

Sunrise vs. Sunset

On the topic of the sun, I was thinking of trying to find an interesting location to shoot the sunrise while we’re up in Door County this weekend. I’m by no means a morning person – unless you consider still being up at 2am “morning” – so it may just continue to be one of those things I say I want to do but never get around to. Hey, it happens.

Whenever the topic of sunrise and sunset come up, I’m usually reminded of the following post from my favorite Hawaii travel blogger over at Go Visit Hawaii.

Are You a Sunrise or a Sunset Person?

Check out the comment thread and feel free to leave your own opinion if you’d like. In the context of Hawaii, it’s an interesting take from people on both sides. And if there ever was a topic where people were very content on agreeing to disagree, this is probably it.  After all, you’re in Hawaii!

– Kris