Dichotomy of Sunsets

Sometimes I'm amazed that two different pictures can be from the same sunset.



These were taken at the same place, less than five minutes apart. But the sun's color and the position of the clouds make them seem like entirely different things. The top one still speaks of daylight - when the sun is still that shade, you know you have time to accomplish something yet. The day isn't over, and the clouds are reassuring bubbles.


But in the second one, the sun's changing color is a harbinger of evening. It's the color of ducks coming in for the evening, and packing up the picnic until another day has come. The clouds have darkened, and seem to bring a taste of evening with them. They're no longer fluffy and optimistic; they're a shadowy blanket, advancing a little at a time on the brightness that was day.

In that way, you can almost have two sunsets at once.

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