You ever find the light coming together just perfectly, and you are not even remotely in the right place to shoot it? Yeah, me neither. :-)

I suspect for anyone that goes out to shoot frequently enough, you have run into this problem. You are out somewhere shooting whatever it is that caught your eye - which is probably NOT what you actually planned to go out to shoot - and then you notice the light is quite possibly going to be AMAZING.

And let's face it - we all want amazing light. It's what we live for, in some ways.

a normally busy intersection on the drag - nearly deserted for a moment! — a normally busy intersection on the drag - nearly deserted for a moment!

So there I was along Guadalupe Street here in Austin - my own town - and I was just shooting "stuff", like graffiti and signs. I like to pretend that I have some grand plan most of the time, but I'm just kidding myself. I have a list, but it's never accurate, or complete. I have a "loose plan", basically. And if something interesting happens - like an amazing sunset - I am usually willing to dump my plan and chase the light. You just can't pass up great light.

the facade of a church along the drag, with a little fil grain thrown in for fun

Guadalupe Street - also known as The Drag - is a main thoroughfare next to the University of Texas here in Austin. I went to UT, and have walked up and down The Drag so many times in my life that I have lost count. Well truthfully, I never tried to count, but trust me, it's A LOT. :-)

But honestly, after shooting around Austin for many years (and making a list of some of my favorite spots to shoot), I had never been here with a camera. Isn't that crazy? You would think by now that I had shot everything here, but nope. My list has only grown, actually. It's probably got 20 spots on it right now. Maybe I should get busy. :-)

So after hitting a few spots on the campus, I walked over here to The Drag with a couple of things in mind, and shot them. Then, I saw the light. (No, not like that.) And here's the thing - there is not a place I can think of nearby where I could get in a great spot to shoot a fabulous sunset. It's all pretty flat here, and the tall buildings don't have public access (at least to my knowledge).

a wider view of the mural with a little texture added, courtesy of perfect effects!

So I walked up The Drag, just like I had done many times before, and headed for the sunset. I knew I would rather be in another spot, but you can't hit the pause button in moments like this, so you take the shot you have in front of you. And I took quite a few.

that the UT tower in the distance, sort of looming over everything in sight

While I would rather be somewhere exotic when the light gets like this, there are some things you just can't work around. So do yourself a favor and take the shot, and enjoy it, and look back on it with fond memories. The sky doesn't get this colorful often enough, so be thankful you have a camera in hand when it does. I know I am!