August days in Iowa can be downright hot, sticky, and well, right now, pretty hazy. There are forest fires out west…way out west, meaning in Northern California, Nevada and such, and the jet stream will sometimes carry the smoke into our atmosphere here. This makes sunrises and sunsets kind of interesting for a time. There might not be a cloud in the sky all day but at dusk you get big, well defined, glowing ball of fire on the horizon. There’s nothing particularly amazing about this picture…it’s just a typical Iowa corn field with some grain bins in the distance. And the setting sun. It’s all I had time to get to this evening but it makes for good practice when you encounter a landscape with a bit more drama to it. That’s not the time to guess on settings or technique…at least when you want to get a nice picture out of it all. It makes me grateful to have a few of these unusual opportunities not far from home…and I still get to watch one of Iowa’s beautiful sunsets.