What makes a beautiful sunset

I’m certain there are technical reasons why some nights produce beautiful sunsets and not on others. Humidity, pollution, elevation, etc. But I believe a great sunset is memorable and beautiful because of the feeling you get while watching it transform before your eyes, the place from which you’re watching it, and the people who watch with you.

sunset over white sands — Sun setting on White Sands NP, as the kids sledded down the gypsum sand

I’ve always loved a nice sunset, but when we started traveling, I became borderline obsessed with capturing the beautiful sunsets from so many places we were visiting around the country. To be honest, most can’t even be fully captured by the camera, but that didn’t stop me from trying.

I love taking in a new site and seeing it in a completely different light. The orange glow present during the golden hour creates some great colors and lighting. But I think the best sunsets were the ones where the location created a positive memory, as the falling sun just added to its beauty. Even better is when the kids tell us to pull over so we can capture the sunset.

As an east-coast girl, seeing a backdrop of mountains, dunes, lakes, and forests make the sunsets different than I usually see. The big skies and high elevation doesn’t hurt either.

Here are some memorable sunset favorites.