Kyle Berg

With all the beautiful scenery around here, it’s a shame there’s not more time (and energy) to get out and shoot. You really have to make an effort to do so given how busy we are with class and then trying to arrange cooking, errands, etc. around that. But last night I left around 7:15 or so and drove north of Missoula. It doesn’t take long to find beautiful scenery and I find myself wishing that I could make the sunset last longer. The summer days are so long here that even at 7:30 or 8 the light is still very harsh for taking pictures. 8:30-9:30 seems to be the most favorable window of time. I didn’t really have a destination last night, but just drove and pulled over at a couple places and looked for anything that caught my eye. I made a point to first stop to shoot an old shack with mountains in the background. This proved to be more difficult than I had hoped because it was on private land. The shot turned out okay since I used all of the zoom I had, but it would have been nice to walk up close and try to frame something rather than setting up my tripod in the ditch of Highway 93 and hoping not to get killed. Next I pulled down a gravel road and tried to take some farm pictures of hay bales with hills and mountains behind. Again, with private land it was tough. Finally, I found another gravel road and tried to sneak in a few sunset shots. The pictures were alright, but more than anything, it was nice to be out by myself on a beautiful summer night in Montana. The long day, quiet, and beautiful weather were absolutely ideal.