Desert Dust Storm Sunset ~ Gold Butte

Photographing desert sunsets is a pastime of many landscape artists, but not every desert sunset is worth breaking out the camera. There can be long periods of nothing but clear blue skies in the desert southwest, which does not exactly add a dramatic effect to a sunset photo. Catching the orange glow on the horizon is just about all that can be done on days like this, which greatly outnumber the cloudy days in this region. For this reason it is best to keep an eye on the weather reports for some overcast skies when planning a sunset photography mission way out in the desert.

Inclement weather definitely is a key component for capturing a fantastic sunset photo image. A passing storm offers some of the best opportunities and when high winds are forecasted in the desert a dust storm will likely occur. The hazy dust particles in the air create all sorts of colorful effects when the sun goes down, which range from gray hues with glowing golden highlights to blazing deep orange color clouds that cover the entire sky. As can be seen in the snapshot photos, there are all sorts of interesting visual effects in between and it is possible to capture several distinctly different looking sunset photos at one location. For this reason, when high winds, clouds and dusty conditions occur late in the afternoon, that is the perfect time to head out to the desert for a colorful sunset show!  
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