By Scott Shephard

I am in the Black Hills for a few days with my good friend Scott P. and, due to the western wild fires hundreds of miles to the west, there was as much haze blanketing the Hills and Rapid City as I have ever seen. Frankly, it is the clarity of South Dakota skies that I like to capture in my landscapes. But I knew that if the sky was clear when the sun went down, it would be worth seeing. I also knew that the best place to see it was from a place I call "The Rock."

The sunset was spectacular but, unfortunately, my camera couldn't really do it justice. This photo was an after thought in that after the sun went down, I turned and looked east because I knew that a full moon would be rising. Finally, when the moon was 15 degrees above the horizon Scott and I and I could see it. The haze was that thick off to the east.

When I turned and looked west again, all that remained of the sunset were shades of blue and pink, which were filtered by the haze. And I took this photo.

Canon 5DIII 2s f/8.0 ISO250 32mm