The Last Witness

Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story rather than the actor in it.

– Ram Dass

This is the final shot I took in a series of sunset photos that have been sequentially posted this week. From a technical standpoint, it’s been interesting to see how my mega telephoto lens performed being handheld in lowlight conditions. Considering this was taken at less than 1/200 of a second, the image stabilization is quite amazing – so much so I’m wondering why I bumped up the ISO so much.

That said, I do wonder how these shots would have fared on a tripod with the stabilization turned off – because I’m not too happy with the artifacting in the shadows on some of the images. It’s all trial and error at this point and I’m still learning the Fuji system.

From an aesthetic viewpoint, I love the movement in this cloud and am so glad I stuck around and took a chance on the small glimmers of pink as the light faded. From my vantage point, this cloud was the last witness to the sun as it sank beyond the horizon. Personifying clouds take a leap into storytelling. Me witnessing a cloud bearing witness to a sunset. There are so many ways we are interconnected.