In Camera ... Tropical sunset on a cold winter day

The sun appears to slide behind snow covered Welsh hills as the earth rotates eastward into darkness, the western sky ablaze, almost tropical in intensity on this bitterly cold evening. The gap between earth and sky aflame with the afterglow, the underside of the clouds tinted deepest amber by the light from our nearest star.

Driving through Little Crosby on a very cold and frosty Saturday afternoon, the winter sky was a clear deep blue with the sun, now low in the west hidden by a band of magenta, pink and mauve cloud edged with gold that lay in a strip above the snow covered Welsh hills. I reckoned that the sunset in ten minutes time at 16.00 would be one worth capturing and drove down to the Hall Road car park. As luck would have it the tide was just receding, leaving the sand sparkling and moist, reflecting the reddish gold light from the sun which had now emerged below the band of cloud and was intensifying in colour every minute. 

For some reason the seabirds were disturbed and agitated, flying around an area of water close to the beach, their raucous calls sharp and clear in the freezing air, feathered outlines silhouetted against the strong low light. The sun appeared to slide behind the white Welsh hills as the earth rotated eastward into darkness, the western sky ablaze, almost tropical in intensity on this bitterly cold evening. The gap between earth and sky aflame with the afterglow, the underside of the clouds tinted deepest amber by the light of the now hidden star.