Sunsets and location, location, location...

Yesterday's sunset was absolutely perfect.  When I noticed this I was in my car, but I had my camera with me and I was stopped at a very slow traffic light and there was a rather interesting tree between me and the  sunset.  And nothing else but the tree. 

So I got my camera out of my bag, but living in a construction zone has left my car rather dusty so to get a good shot I had to roll down the window.  By the time I got that done, the sunset had turned into a dusty grey-orange mush and there was no point in taking the picture.  Sunsets rarely last very long in Iowa.

I guess I was spoiled by growing up in Norway where sunset in the summer lasts for hours, and when the sunset is over the sunrise starts so one cannot really know which is which without checking the time and comparing it to the sunrise/sunset table.  In the winter sunsets are rather short, just an hour or so...

A typical sunset in Norway in June may last from about 22:00 till 03:20, while in Iowa it will last from 21:07:17 to 21:07:24.  It is definitely not the same.  When photographing a sunset in Norway one may take the time to clean the lenses and adjust the tripod.  In Iowa one just hopes the camera settings are close to right and that the autofocus works.

But maybe this is really a good thing?  Photos of sunsets are rather repetitive and since almost everybody do them there's no shortage as it is either.