Sundown at Church (and Palm Trees)

It's likely that I'm getting carried away with today's posting. I've been a little too busy lately, and so it's been a while since I last made a post. And here are a few (probably too many) shots from last Thursday night.

I had to be at Church that night for a meeting that was going to start at 7pm. And, wouldn't you know it -- the sun was going to go down at about 6:57!! What a (wonderful!!) coincidence.

I was actually going to grab a bite to eat and do a little shopping on my way to Church. But, when I noticed the sky, I bypassed that and made a mad dash straight to Church. I've been trying to get some great sunset shots around our Church for a long time now. But, to do that, you need to be there when the sun is going down. (Well, duh!) I now live about 40 miles from our Church, so being there at sundown is usually a little inconvenient. And, on those nights when I've needed to be there, we haven't had any really good sunsets. Until last Thursday.

We have several very tall palm trees around our Church property. And, palm trees make great silhouettes.



Here is what the buildings and trees look like. This shot is looking North-East, so the sun is behind me. This only shows some of the palm trees -- there are lots more around.



I parked my car and walked around the property at least five times. Every time around, the sun and clouds looked different, and so I took lots of pictures. In the following shots, I really like the look of the the bright spot being right behind the cross. It gives these shots a rather antique look.





And I kept walking around. And, I really love the palm trees.



Here is kind of a soft shot, with the bright spot of the sun out of the picture.



And then, here is a shot repositioning my self to place the sun so that it is shining through the bell tower. I really like the radials that the Fujifilm camera makes in these cases.



And again at a slightly wider angle ...



Here I am back around the front of the Church again. I think that due to the way the buildings face, sunrise pictures would look best. But, let's see, that would mean that I would have to get there before the sun comes up. And, remember that I live about an hour away. And the sun is now coming up at about 6am. And, if I left the house at 5am, I really wouldn't have much of an idea of what the sky was going to look like because it is still quite dark. Not to mention the fact that I'm still in bed at 5am. Oh well, I think that sunsets will just have to do. OK, maybe some day???



Back around the rear of the buildings again, and the sun is behind a cloud, shining out both from the top of the cloud and the bottom. Notice the birds in flight?



And, again the palm trees. Notice the cross?



Here is a rather simple shot that I really like, showing the cross against the pink clouds. Simple, but nice. This is taken from the rear of the Church, but, if I didn't tell you that, you probably would never know, even if you were a regular attender at our Church.



Here is a shot that took me by surprise. On another trip around the property, I came around front and noticed that the sunset was being reflected by the windows above the main entrance. No, that is not light coming from inside the Church, but from outside. Now, we may like to the think the the Light lives within the Church walls. But in reality, the Light comes from above, and actually lives within God's people!!



And one final shot from the rear. The sun has gone down, and there is a completely different look to the sky.



I'd like to think that these shots bring a little more praise and glory to God, the one who made it all. And, putting one of His houses of Worship into the pictures, just seems to add something.

By the way, if you would like to see all of the pictures from this night, please come and visit my web album at Sunset At CCN