The day was shaping up to be a wash out for taking pictures, but about an hour before my work day was over the sky cleared and the sun was shining brightly.  I didn’t stay any longer at work than I needed to and ran out with my camera to capture the light.  I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph…  the water tower at the Central New York Psychiatric Center.  There is a road about a mile from the tower that offers a nice view through a clearing in the woods.  I drove straight there and parked the car.

I hadn’t counted on the zoom of the camera not quite being strong enough to bring the water tower closer to me but I still liked the effect of the sun’s light on the tower.  A few clouds in the sky would have improved the picture but beggars can’t be choosers.  To reduce the impact of the bright blue sky I decided to include the silhouette of the tree which was about half the distance to the water tower.  I think it works.  At least I know a great spot for the future when I get a stronger camera and lens.

The sun and the moon were in a great battle of showing off.  The setting sun in the west with a brilliant orange hue to the sky and the rising moon in the east with a nice magenta color to the sky.  I raced in the car to get closer to home which gets me out of the valley and in a better position to see both views.  I didn’t quite make it for the moon but the even after the sun set it helped produce this image.

I liked the tree silhouette (again!) and the contrails in the sky behind the tree.  Over the next couple of days I’ll have to try and get to my vantage point early enough to setup for the battle.  I just have to get the clouds to take the evening off again.