Last week the Colorado Front Range saw pretty hazy skies due to wildfires to our southwest. While I certainly do not like the fires or the damage they cause, they do create some pretty darned beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

Last Wednesday evening I was out northeast of Denver photographing critters when this scene unfolded behind me. I of course quickly swapped cameras and began taking pictures the opposite direction.

The most prominent peaks just right of center are Mount Meeker and Longs Peak. The rest of the Rockies as seen looking west are also silhouetted by the orange glow of sunset and the haze.

I had high hopes for the show this evening and while it was pretty, it wasn’t quite as dramatic as I had hoped. Nevertheless, it is hard to complain when you can wrap up your workday with a scene like this.

Oh my goodness! I was trying to pay attention to the Denver Broncos game but found myself distracted by this scene outside. Sunsets here in the colder months just crank things up a notch. The wind aloft creates insane cloud formations and then you throw in that orange and blue, well, you have a stunning show like this.

As my daughter and I headed home after an evening watching owls, I looked in the rear view to see a beautiful scene unfolding. We quickly pulled over at a local open space park and ran to get ourselves into position to capture the show.

The orange sunset colored the waters of the pond and above, dramatic clouds topped things off. In between the sun just dropping below those gorgeous, snow-capped Rocky Mountains. Definitely a great way to end the day!

If you want gorgeous sunsets, you will get a lot of bang for your buck out on Colorado’s eastern plains in the summer. More so than the higher elevations of the Centennial State, you will find yourself treated with a show. Such was the case on this evening back at the end of June at North Sterling State Park. A brief walk from our campsite gave us a clear view of the setting sun as the rays of light shined across the clouds. Just gorgeous!

One of the benefits in camping at this spot is that stunning scenery is only a short walk away and when Mother Nature does her thing, the show is awesome. On this evening, the clouds just above the mountains were lit up brilliant orange giving the sunset a nice color. However, I actually came away liking my black and white presentations of the show better. Taken at Brainard Lake in Colorado.

I think this image would look awesome on your wall! 😉 Image available here.