Low Sun Over Golden Grassland Plains

A low sun sits near the left edge of the frame and washes the sky in orange and gold. A long band of dark cloud stretches across the upper right, its underside lit by the glow. Below it, a wide, flat plain runs to a faint line of distant hills. The foreground is a tangle of tall, dry grass, its tips lit warm and yellow by the sun. A few dark, rounded shrubs break up the open ground, and their shapes stand out against the paler grass behind them.

The title refers to Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado, where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains meet the broad, high San Luis Valley. Valleys like this are open and dry, with grassland and scattered shrubs, and they give an unobstructed view of the horizon. That openness is why sunsets here can spread colour across so much of the sky. Late in the day the low sun angle lights up grass seed heads and edges the clouds with warm light. The very wide format suits an ultrawide monitor or a dual-screen desktop, where the horizon can run across the full width.

More like this: Blue-Morph Snow Goose Among Winter Flock.