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During a long hike that started in the morning and ended after sunset, I chanced upon this scene. It was along the side of a mountain overlooking Fannette Island, a little piece of land in the middle of an inlet in southwest Lake Tahoe. I reached this spot just before sunset and decided to wait. What followed was arguably one of the more glorious light shows I have witnessed over the past 15 years. The clouds from a scattering rainstorm caught the fiery rays of the setting sun just right and the sky screamed in raging colours. There were reds and oranges, purples and deep blues. And some violets mixed in too. The display was fiery but short-lived. As quick as it came on, the colours died out. I’m glad I captured the various shades that danced there that evening.

Scroll through to see different compositions of the scene and how dramatically the light changed that evening.

Captured on a Canon 500D
70mm・f/14・ISO 100・3.2 seconds