For the past several months I had been busy on other projects and not had much time for the camera. Spending time photographing the landscape makes me pay close attention to my surroundings and to nature itself. It is remarkable how relaxing and enjoyable it is. Every now and then something amazing happens like it did on this short trip.

On Friday, May 18th, it had rained most of the day and by the afternoon we had strong thunderstorms move through our area.  Often after a storm there are opportunities to be had for a photographer.  So I thought I would take the chance and drive over to the beach.

When I got to the beach I noticed how low the tide was. I don’t ever remember seeing the tide as low as it was on this day. I was originally going to go to the rocks at Marineland but decided to stop at Matanzas Inlet instead. I walked down to the Matanzas river and through the empty river bed until I reached the water’s edge. I set up the camera and had taken a few pictures. I wasn’t real happy with what I was seeing, but I thought that maybe it would change once the sun sets. I turned around and noticed the beautiful lighting on the beach with the dramatic sky above. I started to see some colors in the clouds and knew it would be a rare sunset. Above my head was a bold gold colored cloud moving towards me. I set up my camera with the 24mm lens to capture this picture.

Sunset at Low Tide Matanzas Inlet
Image # 352

A little while later the color was changing from a gold to a dark bold red. I repositioned the camera to capture the next picture before all the color had left.

Fiery Sunset at Matanzas Inlet
Image # 353

This was probably one of my most exciting trips that I had made to the beach in a long time. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect!