Today, sometime around 5:30 pm, about 45 minutes before sunset, I grabbed my Nikon D90 and wandered out into my neighborhood, hoping to bag some decent shots.
My neighbor had lent me his 70 – 300mm lens, and I was eager to capture the clouds up on the mountains surrounding Ojai.

I own an 18-200mm lens, which is extremely versatile, and one heck of a walk-around lens, but doesn’t allow me to get right up on the hillside. The 70 – 300mm does let me do that.

At some point, the sun set, and the temperature dropped, as it will do in Ojai in February. Freezing, and unprepared for it, I hoofed it back towards the house. As I turned the corner from Hermosa to Arundale, on my way back towards Taormina, I was shocked by the colors the Pink Moment was casting on the clouds over Krotona.

I suddenly forgot how cold and uncomfortable I was, and began shooting the clouds, hoping that the color cast would come out in my exposures.

I had about 5 minutes of this amazing display, before the sun disappeared, the Pink Moment ended, and the sky became gray and dreary again.
The moral, I suppose is “always be ready to shoot.” While I don’t imagine I’ll be carrying my DSLR around with me at all times, I will try to take it out more often, because that window of opportunity to grab a memorable shot is sometimes very short.
Thanks for reading
Scroll down for some other shots from today’s walk.
If you enjoy these, check out some more on my Flickr page HERE.
~ Chris