As the cold and rain continue here in the Pacific Northwest (with me thankful that at least it isn’t snowing right now), my thoughts have wandered back to Hawaii, where I spent some time just a couple months ago surfing and snorkeling as winter got started. I spent several evenings watching the sunset as I enjoyed my dinner outdoors in the warm air. The first time this happen, I was reminded of something I had totally forgotten about. When I was in California (before deciding a few years ago that a lot more rain would do me good), I experienced many sunsets at the beach, and without fail when the sun neared the horizon just about everyone at the beach would stop and watch. It didn’t matter if it was one of those glorious (if smog-induced) colorful sunsets, or one where the sun decides to make an inconspicuous exit. People would stop and watch.
I had this same experience in Hawaii, and I enjoyed again being part of that sunset ritual. But there was something different this time. About half of the people who had stopped where they were to enjoy the sunset pulled out a digital camera and started taking pictures. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular sunset, but it didn’t matter. It was a special moment, and they wanted to capture it for posterity.
I love special moments like this, but I actually have mixed feelings about the digital aspect of this. Does digital photography help us better enjoy these moments, and more importantly help us remember them later, or does it mostly serve as a distraction to keep us from really enjoying the moment?
You know I can see where this might bring up the question you have proposed, but I have much more often seen any other distraction pull one away from such beauty, be it a rather ordinary sun set or a spectacular one. A pretty girl, a running dog chasing after it’s human companion, a frisbee tossed, even just another set of headlights delivering more to view the sunset can turn into a discourse rather than remaining focused and fully appreciated.
So no for me I’d have to say at minimum, I can always go back once downloaded onto my pc & relive the entire event almost as much as when I was there. And I believe this as a photographer as I am not just taking a cell phone snap, but attempting to capture the essence of it. Others may feel different but I’d venture it has to do with the intent, rather than the technology itself. In another word, if the person shooting places the value on that particular sunset as just another mere moment in their day rather than having driven there just to shoot it, then perhaps you are correct.
Tim, for me watching the sunset is a ritual. In my film days I would sit at the beaches in Steilicoom, with my canon a1 loaded with kodachrome 64, and wait for the sun to set. Now I have gone digital, but no longer have the sun sets of the pacific northwest to sit and ponder. They(sunsets) just dont seam to be as relaxing or as vibrent here in Houston tx.
#1 enjoy the experiance.. #2 take the photo, digital or film.. no matter.
If you have to ask the question your mind is in the wrong place to begin with.
I recently spent a week in Tahiti on a dive boat with no land in site. It was just me, water and the sunset. After taking 30 or 40 shots and going back on the computer, it was very disappointing. The shots couldn’t capture what I had just seen a few minutes before. Several months later I relooked at them and they are fantastic. They are better than I remember them in real time. I think you have to wait a little to really appreciate their value. To James Brock in Houston, yea! the sunsets are disappointing but the thunderstorms are fantastic.
Watching the sunset is a ritual in Key West! Mallory Square is filled with locals, tourists, Street Performers of all kinds,and vendors of food,artworks and trinkets of all sorts. It’s quite a show. It’s the first place I have been where the watchers breakout in applause when the sun sets. Maybe they think it won’t happen again!!
I think the question of whether or not to shoot a sunset depends primarily on the experience of the shooter. The novice point & shooter should fire away, while one like me who has shot too many sunsets, should just enjoy the experience,since I know the images will be deleted. Most sunsets are of value mainly as the background for an appealing focal point. BUT-if it’s a phantasmagoric scene, then even the most jaded photgrapher ( jaded to sunset images, never to sunsets!) should grab the tripod, compose & multi-shoot!! If it ends up worthy of hanging on the wall, then its a terrific bonus to one of Nature’s gifts to mankind!