Sunset Color, ATX Open – Austin, Texas

I have one last picture from this year’s ATX Open, and the most dramatic. The sky rewarded us with a spectacular color as a backdrop for a great tennis match. But, unfortunately, American Sloane Stephens lost to Varvara Gracheva 7-6, 6-3.

Shot 36 minutes after my first sunset photo at the ATX Open, I had no idea the color would be so breathtaking. I don’t shoot enough landscapes or am familiar with meteorology to be able to predict the worthiness of a sunset ahead of time. So it’s always a mystery to me what conditions create the stunning color.

Wanting to capture the entire stadium and get the optimal view of the sky, I moved to the back row and the highest point. I balanced the composition between the seating, court, clubhouse, hills, and sky. I also shot with a modest 1/40 of a second, and this waited just before the serve to push the shutter. The Fujifilm 16mm f2.8, with a 24mm full frame equivalent, framed the scene perfectly.

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