Mindblowing sunsets.

[Stphn]

I have to admit it, I am sorry but I have to.

Don’t judge me please, I cannot help it.

I promise you, it is not as bad as it sounds.

There goes…

I AM OBSESSED WITH SUNSETS!

There, I said it. Not so bad right?

All jokes aside, I ám really obsessed with sunsets and sunrises.

It does not matter where I am, each time my mind is blown by its beauty and I cannot help it.

Makes me speechless, makes me philosophic, makes me think of life, makes me think creatively.

What I also love, is capturing sunsets along with nice contours and contrasts.

I am very pleased to share my own favorite collection, whit information where they were taken and what makes them so special to me.

Dubai creek, UAE

Let me start with my favorite sunrise of all times, and this moment still is very bright in my memory.

In Dubai, we decided on an early morning to drive around and cross the creek.

Suddenly we stumbled upon a bar that they were building from scratch, actually in a whole town which was fully under construction.

There was literally no other human blood in the nearest neighborhood.

That moment of full silence, during an amazing sunrise which is illuminating that outrageous skyline of Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa making his neighbors look like midgets with its height of 830 meter.

WOW. I had difficulties leaving this place, I was just sitting there and could not move. Mindblowing.

https://goo.gl/maps/AvfZfJS8LWZH7bLh7

Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakech, Morocco

Imagine this: You are walking from Jemaa El-Fnaa, Marrakech’s main square with literally a combination of a million sounds which puts you in a certain trance after a few minutes. Rattling snakes, dancing monkeys, squeaking chickens, dozens of rhythmic drums and thousands of people.

Suddenly the Muslim prayers start, shouting out loud of the speakers from the Koutoubia Mosque.

You turn towards the Mosque and see an unbelievable sunset, while you drift away in thoughts hearing the mosque’s prayers and the square’s sound feast. A second felt like a minute at that moment.

I captured this picture at a perfect moment, the girl was waggling her head, bringing the ponytail from left to right. CLICK!

https://goo.gl/maps/48EFurxtQHrg9MBz6

Pushkar sacred lake, Rajasthan, India

Beautiful India, beautiful people, beautiful country.

This trip changed my life, teached me a gigantic lesson like a huge slap in the face how fortunate I am to live in high materialistic Western Europe.

There are an uncountable number of temples in India to hail the 3 main gods: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Though, the only temple that hails the god Brahma is situated in Pushkar, just next to this sacred lake.

Evening prayers started, I closed my eyes and started meditating -even though I did not really do that before-. It just came naturally.

I opened my eyes after some time, saw a mom with her child and the perfect reflection in the water and captured the moment forever.

https://goo.gl/maps/fkwCGwfSGXSrexXD7

These were definitely my three most memorable sunrise/sunset moments.

If you are still reading here, means that you probably liked it, so I am not going to withhold you from my other top captures.

Arambol, North-Goa, India

Yes, you see that correct, that is a real shark.

Goa is a paradise for parties, relaxing and food.

At this restaurant, they came with a plate to you with their fresh catches of the day where you could choose from.

https://goo.gl/maps/LTHGgUpTaj1XRQbu7

Torrevieja, Alicante, Spain

It is not ice that you see here - it was 35 degrees when I took this shot.

These are piles of salt, in a huge pink salt lake in Spain.

https://goo.gl/maps/dAcMgZwxTDaS7H5j9

Shanghai, China

Motorcycler on a bridge with in the far background a blurry view on the skyline of Shanghai.

https://goo.gl/maps/j28ERGZaPSCpmbGL6 (approximate location)

Porto, Portugal

River Douro, splitting Porto in 2 parts. On your left, the many port breweries and on your right, the old city.

https://goo.gl/maps/R4oo8bEn58Tf7wyz7

Antwerp, Belgium

Love the contours of the majestic buildings at sunets on the Meir in the city that I currently live in, Antwerp.

https://goo.gl/maps/go8C7sjrTiVcHpks6

Arambol, North-Goa, India

I want to end in beauty, with this gorgeous capture in Arambol.

After the night market, a man was pushing back home his selling cart.

The contour of the man in the sunset at the sea, with the solo star which could be him representing in this picture, makes this my favorite sunset picture.

https://goo.gl/maps/Hkm8nvsrunXm1cwP7

Lots of respect if you reached it until here, I send you a bag full of gratitude.

Please, If you appreciated it, let me know that you did in a reply.

I am also super curious to hear from you, which is your favorite picture out of my selection.

I will not stop conquering sunsets, I will not!

Warm love,

Stephen

#ConnectWritingChallenge

[ErmesT]

Love your photos, @StephenLammens , that offer to us a view of different sunset around the world. A great, personal way, to share your own view of the planet. Thank you for sharing. I would like to suggest only to add a link of the places on Google Maps, for us to be able to travel with you

I am a sunset lover too, even if I like more to capture the feeling, instead of the direct sun

Thank you again for sharing

[PaulPavlinovich]

Awesome that you put these sunsets in context with your travels @Stphn and gave us a Local Guides flavour. So often people post pictures of sunsets and sunrise here with no context and this isn’t really the place for that. What you’ve done is taken the collection of great sunset shots and weaved them into this awesome Connect post. A worthy contender for the challenge.

Paul

[Ant_Bad_Yogi]

@Stphn thank you so much for sharing these amazing photos with us. I like your cover photo it is so picturesque one, the grass in front and city in background, gorgeous.

[AdamGT]

I toolove sunsets and sunrises @Stphn . I have to say that I like all your sunset photos but especially that in beautiful Porto. I totally agree with both @ErmesT and @PaulPavlinovich not only have you taken beautiful sunset shots but you’ve gone that extra mile and turned your post into a beautiful narrative. Well done, I really like it!!

[LuigiZ]

Very nice photos @Stphn thank you for sharing, I like most the one in Alicante for the special effect of the salt which effectively seems snow and the one in Porto for the special shades.

I love taking sunset and sunrise too, have a look below at this sunrise photo I took on the Isola d’Elba, Tuscany. It doesn’t take directly the sun because it was a raining day but I like the effect the light gives on the picture.

[vvbellur]

@Stphn I liked the Morocco and Belgium sunset pics! So nice to see that you visited India and have captured some beautiful pics. When did you visit India?

Cheers!

[Stphn]

@ErmesT , thank you for your kind words!

That is a great idea to add the google maps locations, I just did in the original post. If you are once in the neighborhood in one of the locations, take a picture there.

Beautiful picture of you as well. Yes, the sunset is giving such a different view on things and places which seems just regular during the day, love it!

[Stphn]

Very glad to hear that you liked it @PaulPavlinovich !

Indeed, I wanted not only to just post pictures, but I also wanted to recreate the feeling for you guys. Hope that worked out a bit!

[Stphn]

@Ant_Bad_Yogi , thanks a lot for your kind words!

Yes, the Dubai picture was very overwhelming, seeing this immense busy city while you are there all alone in silence admiring it.

[Stphn]

Very glad to hear that you liked it @AdamGT , thank you!

The Porto picture was taken actually at a rooftop bar of a port wine cellar.

With a good glass of port wine, moment was even more magical!

[Stphn]

@LuigiZ , thanks a lot for your kind words!

The salt lake was not only looking good, I also had a swim in there. (now it is prohibited unfortunately)

I was completely floating in this very hot water because of the high concentrated salt, watching this same sunset and seeing the sun dissapear behind the mountains. Lovely!

[LuigiZ]

Yes it should have been definitely lovely @Stphn , thank you again for sharing.

[Stphn]

Thank you so much @vvbellur !

Oh yes my friend, India was unbelievably photogenic!

I have been 3 weeks to India, and it was without any doubt the best 3 weeks of my life. I would go back immediately if I would have the chance.

Been to Delhi, and took a roadtrip to Jaipur - Pushkar - Agra (seeing the majestic Taj Mahal) and then flew to Goa for some relaxing.

Below some more pictures of my India trip.

[Julien44]

Hi @Stphn

Nice post. My favorite pic is the one from Antwerp.

Here is the last sunset picture :

See you around

Jul

[Stphn]

Thank you @Julien44 !

What a lovely rich color palette you have in your picture. Love it!

[AbdullahAM]

Amazing photos, really nice shots @Stphn

Thank you for sharing with us.

[phongcao]

toi rất thích

[MoniDi]

Hello @StephenLammens ,

Don’t worry, you are not alone! I am also addicted to taking photos of sunsets and sunrises but there is nothing compared to seeing them in real life. So many colours and so much beauty!

Here is a photo of mine that I did recently in the city center:

And this photo was taken while I was working out early in the morning, there is nothing more motivating than seeing the sun and collecting energy for the rest of the day:

[BorrisS]

Hello @Stphn ,

Thank you for sharing your obsession with us, I have to admit, I love it!

The photos are incredible and of a unique beauty. Furthermore, the variety of the locations is amazing, and gives a diversity when it comes to the choice of the landscape. I guess you like traveling, right?

I’m sharing with you a photo of a sunset that I took few years ago, hope you will like it.