Homeless in Vancouver: A green banana of a summer sunset photo

Just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday evening (July 26) I took photos of the developing sunset in the deep blue of the western sky. Then I took my leave of the 1400 block of West Broadway.

That was a mistake.

I only managed to cross Hemlock Street and make it halfway into the alley on the south side of the 1300 block, when I saw that the blue-grey of the western shy had deepened several shades and was now shot through with many luminous streaks of cloud resembling fiery lava.

I, who have written about patiently waiting for a sunset to ripen before picking up my camera, had failed to take my own advice!

Too little, too late?

Now that the sunset was finally “ripe”, however, much of its blazing colour was blocked from my view by the buildings of the 1400 block, which I had just exited.

The clock ticks down quickly on meteorological phenomena, so I had to hurry in order to salvage something of the moment.

I  jumped up on top of a Dumpster on the north side of the lane and—avoiding the razor-tipped concertina wire guarding the low rooftop on my right—I snapped a quick sequence of photos, controlling the light metering and flash on the fly.

The composite panoramic image above was made using 20 of the 29 photos that I took and at least manages to capture something of the tail end of the dramatic solar display.