Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

The days may be shorter but the colorful beauty still abounds.



The hint of fall is visible in the far shoreline as the green has started to fade.



A glorious sky to herald the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

There is something distinctive about fall sunsets. The days are noticeably shorter, there is a chill in the air; a hint of the coming season.



The pinks are pinker, the oranges are oranger. (Yes, "oranger" is a real word even though it sounds and looks odd).



Time to put on a sweater. Life is good in Manomet.

Race Point Light Sunset, Herring Cove Beach, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

I didn't intend to walk in the water.  Really.  I am an adult not a 5-year old. I had on regular shoes and socks - not the waterproof kind. The tide was going to be low, I was optimistic, and I thought I could stay on dry sand or sand bars and successfully walk from the Herring Cove Beach parking lot to Race Point Light under the conditions......



....but it was a long walk and it turned out even at low tide that there was a lot of water between us and the lighthouse.



I was with a group of Amy's photographers and our goal had been to photograph the sunset at Race Point Light and then a short while later, the moonrise from the opposite horizon. We were almost successful. The sky was certainly glorious enough but........



....try as I might, I couldn't get across all the water to get closer



I carried both of my point-and-shoot cameras on this walk.  My regular camera has a 1" sensor (Sony DSC-RX100M2) but only a 3.6X optical zoom (equivalent to about a 105mm zoom in 35mm camera language), and, my older model with a tiny 1/2.3" sensor (Sony DSC-WX500) but it has a 30X optical zoom (equivalent to about a 700mm lens).



The water was warm on my soggy feet, the air temp and breeze were comfortable, gulls were crying out, and the sky was on fire.



It was a special moment in a beautiful spot on the planet.



After I returned home, it took my shoes three days to dry out....... I'm not sure they'll ever be the same. I like being 5-years old again.

I walked way farther over more difficult sand than I had expected or desired. The long trip back to the parking lot was in near total darkness but, all in all, I felt enriched and inspired by the beauty of this hard-earned sunset, standing in a wetlands with an iconic lighthouse in the distance, feeling the richness of natural life all around me.

I earned that view and it was even better because I had to expend a lot of effort to achieve it. Another life lesson........especially for a 5-year old in wet shoes.

Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Summer begins on Bartlett Pond with a beautiful sunset.

Same day, a few minutes later, the colors deepen.  Bartlett Pond is a 30-acre freshwater pond located about 500 feet inland from White Horse Beach.  In my observation, it is unusual to have a large freshwater pond so close to the ocean/coast. Another example of how special this part of the world is.

Sunset, Morton Pond, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Picnic anyone? Nope, me neither -  it was 35 degrees F with a light breeze.

Morton Park, managed by the Plymouth Recreation Department, is a 200-acre site adjacent to Billington Sea and Little Pond.  It's a popular summer destination for swimming, kayaking, and wandering.

Sunset, Bartlett Pond, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Here's an especially pretty early fall sunset on Bartlett Pond.  It is not often the surface of the water is so still as to provide such a good reflection.

Sunset, Old Sandwich Road, Chiltonville, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

One of the pleasures of photography is that often, it makes me look more closely at what I am actually seeing.  In this scene, I looked more closely at the detail along the road ........

....and chose to make this image. Then, looking even more closely at just a part of this scene.......

..... led me to focus on this tiny portion of the original landscape view.  Then, through the magic of software processing I applied a watercolor effect. For me, a big challenge is seeing the potential end result from the initial view - having creative vision.

I would like to have painted this scene - that is, if I any talent to paint, which I don't - to sit there in the fading light as the shadows grew long, as the air took on a chill, to the sound of a horse snorting in the distant meadow, and the birdsong giving way to a symphony of insects. Yep, I would have enjoyed that, too. 

Reflection, Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

A high altitude flight arriving from over the Atlantic Ocean flies into the sunset viewed from Boat Meadow Marsh in Eastham.

Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

An unusually pretty sunset graced Bartlett Pond on this late summer evening.

A few minutes later, it evolved into this.  It was a complete sensory experience: 

sight - spectacular color and drama,  

sound - the distant waves of the ocean crashing and rolling the rocks in the surf,  

touch - the feel of the warm summer breeze on the skin,

smell - the salty air blowing in off the ocean, and, 

taste - the pesky mosquitoes that kept flying into my nose and mouth.

Note: these were both smartphone images rather than a stand-alone camera.  (Panoramas - click on the image to view in full width).

Sunset at Plymouth Rock, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

These three similar images were made over the brief period of time at sunset. Plymouth Rock is under the columned structure at left.

The two-master vessel Mayflower II is visible at right.

The end of another beautiful summer day in America's Hometown.

Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

This view faces to the northeast but, it still sometimes offers a nice sunset perspective. Notice Amy standing on the dock with her iPhone. That is important because...........

.......at the same time I was making the first image with my point-and-shoot, this is the image that Amy was making with her iPhone. It is a good illustration of how two people looking at essentially the same scene might see and record very different creative outcomes. Also a good illustration of the great quality of the camera function in her phone. (Image courtesy of Amy).

Sunrise and Sunset, Bartlett Pond, White Horse Beach, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

A great way to start another summer New England day.

A different day, a more muted sunrise, but still a great beginning.

And at the other end of daylight, a dramatic ending as well.

Low tide and summer warmth - a perfect combination to enjoy White Horse and Priscilla Beaches.

Sunset, First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

When a low tide, sunset, and clear skies coincide, the beach sand at First Encounter Beach in Eastham creates some interesting ripples and ribbons of sand.  Here's what it looked like this week:

Folks milling around about an hour before sunset.

More milling about.

Self-portrait while milling about waiting for the sunset.

And the color show begins......

...and deepens....

....and darkens.....

....and ends. Another beautiful spot on Cape Cod.

Sunset, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

What is it about sunset?  People of all ages, all walks of life, all genders, all nations - all of us - man and womankind, will stand and pause a moment to behold a sunset of spectacular beauty - perhaps it is the unspoken suggestion of hope and beauty and good and god and the sheer  majesty of the view that grabs us all. 

We humans have created many things of wonder, greatness, and beauty on this earth - but none to rival the awesome spectacle of a beautiful sunset.  We are powerful but we cannot arrange the layers of clouds, and the light, and the dust, and the moisture to suit us on command; we cannot arrange the precise location where all these elements combine into an image that leaves us all together, briefly, speechless at the grandeur.

View from Massachusetts Route 3, Exit 5, west of Shops at Five at 4:30pm EST.