Florida Sunset

I missed my Nephew's football game for this

I was visiting my sister-in-law for a week in Windemere, FL, and she asked me if I could bring my camera and take some photos of the lakes that surround her neighborhood. When I arrived, my brother-in-law told me that most of the piers were underwater because the water levels in the lakes had risen so high after the hurricane. There was this one spot that I knew of that had a nice pier that could be good, I just hoped it wasn't underwater. I also wanted to shoot it at sunset, so I only had a narrow window of time each day. 

My first time out, I noticed that the ground was real wet and muddy, but I was happy to see that the water in the lake had gone down just enough to make the pier visible and walkable. The first day was a flop, no sunset at all. I tried again the second day, again... nothing. It would be super cloudy all day, but when it came time for sunset, all the clouds would disappear. 

Day 5 of the trip, I tried for a third time. My nephew had a flag football game that day, but the clouds were looking so good, I knew this could be the day. So when the time came, I asked my wife and my in-laws if it was ok if I stayed back and tried to shoot the sunset again. So with the blessing of the family, I missed my little nephew’s game to try this again.

The evening started like any other, I walked through the mud and onto the pier, and looked to the right towards the setting sun. The mossy trees and tall grass spread out on the lake before me. The air was surprisingly calm this time, hardly any wind at all, which felt rare for Florida, giving the lake a perfect mirror to the glorious clouds above me. Would the clouds hold on, or would they all go away by the time the sun set like the previous two days? They held on just enough to give me this. The mossy trees, the tall grass, the beautiful clouds mirroring the water, the sun dipping behind the clouds, this was the shot.

While I was taking this, I kept saying to myself, “this one better be good, I missed my nephew’s football game for this.” And sure enough… it was. I realized from this that the best shots, and things in life, almost always come with sacrifice.