Who doesn’t love a beautiful sunset?

Thinking about sunsets makes me think how incredible of a natural phenomenon it actually is. Sunset happens every day. Every single day. It is kind of simple and yet amazing.

There is a possibility that you will get to witness a beautiful sunset 365 days a year. And on top of that you don’t even necessarily have to go anywhere. You can sit at home and see the sunset.

You don’t even have to go outside. Need a quick refresh and a burst of natural wonder to perk you up? Take a minute and look out your window. Maybe you will get exactly what you need.

What even makes a sunset beautiful?

I have occasionally ventured into this realm and there is some very particular science of weather that factors into how spectacular a sunset is. I am not even going to pretend to know about or understand all of that, but the information is out there if you seek it. There are apps that are supposed to help you predict if the sunset is likely to be nice on a given night.

But what I really care about is what about the visual presentation of a sunset makes it beautiful?

For me there are a few factors. Obviously the first and most important factor is the sky. I don’t find a sunset with a clear sky as visually interesting as a sky that has at least some amount of clouds in it. Even if they are both colorful the sky with clouds creates texture and feeling. And the clouds provide more variation to the colors across the field of view. When there are no skies there is usually just one shade of color filling the sky.

I also like there to be something on the horizon to separate the sky from the foreground. Mountains work great for this. I also like trees.

Then there is the foreground. For me you cannot beat a foreground consisting of water. Any form of water will do really. Because, what I like is the reflective quality of the water. The water can reflect the color in the sky. The water can also distort the color in the sky and change it in some ways. It almost makes the color more beautiful than what is in the sky. The water feature foreground is even better if it is broken up a little bit by trees or rocks. It just adds a bit of texture and difference to the scene which I really enjoy.

All of this is why one of my favorite places to watch the sunset has been at Higley Flow State Park in New York. We have camped there on a couple of occasions. It is a beautiful park. And there is this nice little lake where you can relax and enjoy the sun setting off in the horizon.

The scenery there comes complete with all of the features I like to have in a beautiful sunset.

Where is your favorite place to watch a sunset?

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