Wildfire Smoke, August 30, 2012

The sun shows through a slight break in smoke from wildfires near Chadron, Nebraska, August 2012. A number of fires burned thousands of acres in the Nebraska panhandle in the fall of 2012. (Photo by Daniel Binkard)

With wildfires raging across the area, but not quite in your backyard, there are some unreal situations. This reminds me of the dawnless day when the forces of Mordor began their march on Minas Tirith. I like the texture of light and dark in these clouds of smoke, with the sun’s disk visible behind but nowhere near as bright as it should be in the afternoon. This is an eerie place to be.