Audrey Waitkus
August 2026 - Door County Afterglow
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About the Image(s)
This is why photographers never go home as soon as the sun has set. We had watched a very lackluster sun set along the shore. We had to continue along the shore towards our destination, so we headed for one of our favorite sunset spots.
The sun had set at 8:40 PM -- As we drove north, we began to see the show:
The first thumbnail was taken at 9:02:41 PM
The second one at 9:08:25 PM
The third at 9:11:41 PM
And the main image was taken at 9:17:33 PM, more than 37 minutes after the official sunset. I checked my favorite sunrise/sunset website (timeanddate.com) to learn that, by that time, the sun had reached about 7 degrees below the horizon, still in a great position to light up the clouds that had obscured the actual sunset.
I was especially taken by the way that the under sides of the clouds were beginning to take on a red glow in the final image.
I was using the iPhone as usual. The settings for the main image were ISO 500, 47mm, f/1.64, 1/30 sec. I didn’t figure I could improve on what nature had given me, so I just cropped, leveled the horizon, added a stroke, and saved for the web.
5 comments posted
The colours and the drama are what makes the shot.
Like you, I had a play to see if it could be 'improved', but came to the same conclusion as you - your crop is all that is needed - but maybe just crop a little from the bottom to leave a a slightly smaller black base to the image?
I actually like the bollard on the right - it acts as a 'stop' so that the eye doesn't run out of the image, and acts to balance the drama on the left.
One thing I would do is to remove what looks like a 'sensor spot' (do you get those on iPhones), which I've ringed in green. Posted: 08/08/2026 08:07:24
Since I am one of the last few to comment, I agreed with all the comments you made. Like Brian has mentioned, the bollard kinds of anchored the image (something for the eye to focus on). Thank you for sharing the stories behind the picture, it adds a great deal more the the depth of the picture. Posted: 08/24/2026 03:35:53