Suddenly beautiful

There is just something about a sunset.  This one was captured on an empty road north of Questa, NM.  I'm not sure what it is, but it sure seems like the sunsets out West are more dramatic than elsewhere.  We had been driving for a while, looking for a field of sunflowers that was supposed to exist somewhere out here.  We never found it.  But, while driving, the atmosphere started making those subtle changes that you can sense is going to turn into something beautiful.  We hurried to find a spot and pull over so I could set up and snap off a few before it got dark.  It seems like there is a magical 5 minute span right before things just go back to normal, the clouds dissipate, and the color disappears.  Maybe it's 3 minutes, but it is always nice when you have your gear set up and ready to go!

This is a single exposure shot, not HDR.  It was shot at f/22, ISO 100, and 0ev.  The shutter speed was 0.5 seconds.  This is fairly close to how it came out of the camera.  I did make some minor adjustments in PSE, such as Contrast but that is about it.  Hope you like it!