2018 Memorable Sunrise and Sunsets

2018 memorable sunrises and sunsets

One year ago today (Jan. 2) I caught the tail end of one of the most spectacular sunsets I had ever laid eyes on.

My back had been turned to the sky as I finished up dishes, but I fortunately happened to turn around right as the clouds were turning bright pink.

I made a vow to myself in that moment: to watch either the sunrise or sunset every day. If Mother Nature was going to put on a show of color and light twice a day, I didn't want to miss out on it.

The sunset that launched my goal, as seen from my apartment's living room window. (Photo is straight out of the camera, absolutely no editing)

I fell short of my goal, partly due to laziness (waking up for a 5 a.m. sunrise every day is more difficult than it seems) and partly due to the jobs that I held in that time period (it’s hard to justify breaking away from covering an indoor basketball game or stepping away from a production meeting just to go outside and snap a photo of the sky).

But I did manage to document over 100 sunrises and sunsets. I probably witnessed close to 200, but sometimes for no particular reason, would choose not to take a photo.

So in the spirit of the new year, I wanted to put together this photo journal of sorts to reflect back on how beautiful the world was in 2018 despite the challenges and frustrations it occasionally brought.

These are some of my favorites.

JANUARY

January brought a lot of parking lot sunrises. The West Ames water tower became a popular backdrop for a lot of my photos, and when it was too cold to stand outside, I would sit in my car.

This sunrise was the first time that I specifically set my alarm to intentionally wake up and drive to a location that was outside of my apartment complex to watch the sunrise for more than a few minutes. I later had to rush back home to shower and get ready for my 9 a.m. class.

The Iowa State Capitol the morning of the Women's March.

FEBRUARY

Monday sunrises were a great way to start the week off on a good note. On this particular day (Feb. 5), it later snowed 7 inches in Ames.

This was one of the rare moments where when I stepped out of the Iowa State Daily newsroom to buy more M&Ms at CVS (no shame, I definitely went through a family size bag every two weeks), I walked outside to find an extremely bright sunset.

Same sunrise, different viewpoints.

MARCH

A sunrise and a sunset (different days) from the Okefenokee swamp in south Georgia. This trip was an incredible way to spend my last spring break. Canoeing through alligator-filled waters for three days and only showering twice in the span of a week was SO. MUCH. FUN. This trip, which I took through Iowa State's Outdoor Recreation Program, was only $250. Gas, food, camping and canoeing supplies included. I seriously cannot recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and going on a trip with complete strangers enough.

As managing editor of the Daily, I had my fair share of feeling stressed, overwhelmed and frustrated. When I would get on the verge of tears or needed a moment take a deep breath, I quickly learned that a lap around Lake LaVerne (which was conveniently across the street!) would calm me down.

APRIL

Once again, a view of the sunrise from my apartment parking lot. April was a month of lots of snow in Ames, which led to some pretty bleak skies. It was also a stressful month, as I was finishing up classes, projects and production before I graduated. I slacked off on my goal, and opted to sleep in instead.

MAY

Graduation and no full-time job lined up brought something that I hadn't experienced in years: lots of free time. My boyfriend Jake and I took a spontaneous trip to Badlands National Park, and spent two (very chilly and rainy) nights camping among bison in a primitive campground on the outskirts of the park. It was a trip of firsts: the first time I had camped out of state by myself, the first time I had driven my Honda CRV out of state, the first time Jake had seen the Badlands and it was also the first time that I had planned a somewhat extensive -- as in more than one night -- trip by myself.

Jake and I spent many summer evenings at the lake. He would fish, and I would read and take photos. I loved my new life of being able to slow down and enjoy the little things in life without a looming deadline or test to study for.

This sunset was jaw-dropping. The photo on the left is of a giant thunderhead forming (with a small half moon in the right corner!) and the photo on the right is looking west. I had never seen bigger clouds in my entire life, at least that I could remember.

JUNE

I remember this evening so well. I was at Jake's house and started sobbing out of the blue while we were watching Netflix - I think it might have had something to do with me not having a full-time, permanent job lined up yet and feeling like a failure, and that I wasn't in control of my life anymore. But as the hero that he is, Jake knew exactly what I needed and that was to go on a drive through the country. The weather was weird. It was very windy and there was an impressive lightning storm happening, but it wasn't raining very hard, if at all. I only had my iPhone on me, but I managed to grab a measly photo of a small lightning bolt. In that moment, driving around with the windows down with tears still streaming down my face, I felt so alive. Stormy sunsets became one of my favorite things.

I was fortunate to work as an intermittent producer at Iowa Public Television for a little under two months during the summer. One of my roles was to create timelapses for a program called Iowa Land and Sky. It took me a long time to get a hang of the equipment but it afforded me a lot of opportunities to go around the state and watch the sunset. This view is looking west toward downtown Des Moines from the state capitol building.

This sunset brought "golden hour" to a whole new level. This was one of the few times where I felt frustrated that I couldn't get my camera to register what the human eye saw. I can honestly say that pictures didn't do this sky or the pure orange-ness justice.

JULY

This was the evening of the annual Yankee Doodle Pops fireworks show. I unfortunately didn't get a great timelapse from this evening because a group of curious kids kept wandering into the frame, wondering how my camera worked. Ya win some, ya lose some.

The sky was actually this purple.

Watching the sunrise while hanging out of my attic bedroom window became one of my favorite morning rituals.

Not necessarily a great photo or well-composed shot, but this sunset is significant because this was my view as I was driving to help my friend Emily cover an EF-3 tornado that hit her hometown of Marshalltown. It blew my mind that such a destructive force could completely rip a town to shreds, and then hours (or even minutes) later the skies would clear and would provide for a great sunset. Full disclaimer: I did take this while driving. I wouldn't recommend it, but I just couldn't let this sunset escape my memory and I also didn't have the time to pull over and admire it as I was racing to get to Marshalltown before they shut the entire city down.

Sunrise from the Hitchcock Nature Center in Pottawattamie County.

Sunset at Waterworks Park in Des Moines after a thunderstorm — which had cancelled the balloon flights in Indianola.

AUGUST

This was by far my favorite sunset of the year. My mom, sister and I all piled into my brother's room and watched the sky change color almost every minute. It was one of my final days in Des Moines before moving to Lincoln, which made it all the more sentimental.

The sunset from Camp Dodge along Beaver Drive in Johnston, Iowa.

The sunrise from my new apartment in Lincoln, Nebraska with a view of the state capitol.

The sunset while driving back to Lincoln on I-80 from a short visit to Des Moines. I also took this while driving. Note: I do not take photos while operating a moving vehicle unless there are absolutely no cars around me. No photo is worth potentially crashing and killing yourself or someone else.

SEPTEMBER

September brought a lot of Friday Night Lights. Fall was pretty rainy in Lincoln, so many nights were cloudy. The photo on the left was overcast, but a mix of the stadium lights and the way the sun was shining through a thick layer of clouds made the sky look purple. The photos on the right were of a game in Waverly, Nebraska. I think I ended up with more photos of the sunset than photos of the game.

I attended the NPPA Women in Visual Journalism Conference in Denver, Colorado this year, and due to a tight schedule (taking time off in the thick of football season at a Nebraska paper is practically unheard of) but I took a sunrise flight out of Omaha into Denver the day of the conference. The view from above the clouds was stunning.

OCTOBER

The sunrise shot on my iPhone while driving to Hastings, Nebraska to cover the state softball championships on Oct. 13. Ironically enough, the next day it snowed 3.5 inches in Lincoln.

Shot on my iPhone while on assignment in Hickman, Nebraska.

Shot while on assignment traveling to a volleyball game in Shelby, Nebraska. I had afforded myself extra time, so I pulled over on the side of the highway and watched this one for several minutes.

NOVEMBER

November was a pretty uneventful month in terms of me taking photos of the sunrise and sunset. But I did happen to wake up early on this particular day and drive out to Pioneers Park in Lincoln to grab a feature photo and came across this pond that had steam rising from it.

DECEMBER

A foggy sunrise just off an exit on I-80. Normally the drive from Des Moines to Lincoln takes just under 3 hours, but on this day it took closer to 4 because I kept stopping to take photos. The mix of frost, snow and fog both in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska made me feel as thought I was living in a snow globe.

Taken while feature hunting. Holmes Lake quickly became one of my favorite spots in Lincoln.

Another sunrise from Holmes Lake. This was a relatively mild morning, so the ice had been melting.

Sunset from the Lincoln East High School parking lot on the shortest day of the year.

iPhone shot of the sunset on Christmas Day.

The world can seem like such a daunting, dark and dangerous place. But I found that taking a few minutes out of my morning and evening to admire the sky being painted right in front of my eyes made life seem a bit more manageable.

Going into 2019, I’m not going to set a lofty goal and aspire to take a photo every day of the sun like I did last year, because I know that I won't achieve it. But I do hope that my schedule and self-discipline allow me to enjoy more moments like the ones that I witnessed in 2018. You can certainly expect to see plenty more photos of the sky on social media again, that's one thing I can promise. Maybe I'll make my goal to document 150 sunrises and sunsets, who knows.

In closing, I urge everyone to take the time to appreciate not only sunrises and sunsets, but the small miracles and moments that each day brings.

Thank you for reading.

Appreciate

Credits:

All photos credit Emily Blobaum and Emily Blobaum/Lincoln Journal Star.