Amazing Sunset at Seyon Lodge in VT

The people I work with have become accustomed to me running through the kitchen, hearing the screen door slam and my faint calling, “…the sun,” as I run down towards the water.

In the three years I have lived in the Groton State Forest at Seyon Lodge, I am constantly amazed by the unique sunsets I have seen. I can be sitting in my room, look out the window at the sun, look out five minutes later and the whole sky has become on fire. I never know when an “epic” sunset will happen.

Every sunset is slightly different, but some just stand out to the point I do a double take, like, ‘is this really happening before my eyes?’ This is one of the reasons that Seyon was chosen as the Top 6 spot in the country for fall photography by Outdoor Photographer last year. You can check out this post highlighting some of last years shots. But this post is to take you through just one sunset. These shots are all from November 23, 2015.

It was another one of those days I was sitting in my room, not particularly keen to get all my warm clothes on and go down to the pond. I almost did not look out the curtain, but thought, I better, because one never knows when an epic sunset will take place. All I know is I will have no chance of getting any sunset photos by sitting my room. Really, you could apply this mentality to all of life. If we don’t put ourselves out there, we will have little chance of getting much back.

So even though it would have been easier to stay in my room, I was so glad I made the effort to get up for this sunset. Even after three years of living in the forest, I had never seen a sunset quite like this. Here is what I saw:

The sky was putting on an impressive layer of color.

I love these pastel color schemes.

The clouds subley change formations and turned into a denser, grey formation…

…and then…

…look at this line across the pond!

In all the years I have lived here I never saw such a distinct line form across the pond.

See what I mean about questioning, ‘Is this really happening right before me?’ None of these pictures have any photo editing what-so-ever. No filters, no nothing. What you see is what was there.

This line stayed visible on the water for probably about ten minutes.

As the sun continued to gently fall behind the mountains, the line started to disperse.

Night was coming as the landscape changed to a grey color scheme.

And then the sunset was over. I look at shots like this and think, if you walked down there and saw the image above, you might still think, ‘Oh that is nice.’ But to have seen what just was ten minutes before -wow! That is the never ending conundrum with being a photographer, and really with life, you always want to try and capture the best shots. We all know it’s impossible to be everywhere all of the time, but we have to at least be present where we are. Being present where we are, ironically, can be the single most difficult task that faces each of us every day. It requires us to recognize what is happening around us and execute the discipline to not let our minds run away with us. Like with this sunset, it changed so much over the coarse of twenty minutes. Our lives can change minute by minute.

The fear should not be the change, it’s going to happen, just like the sun will set every day and rise again. The fear should be not being present to observe what is happening around you. Even if you think it’s going to be the same thing every day, you never know when something different might happen and give you the boost you need. Be ready for that boost, it might come when you would have rather stayed in your room.

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If you go:

Seyon Lodge State Park