Capturing Alpenglow

Alpenglow is a natural phenomenon that occurs right before sunrise and right after sunset that provides a beautiful reddish hue against things high in the atmosphere such as mountains or clouds.  Very tall mountains with glaciers provide a great opportunity for consistent viewing but requires very specific lighting conditions; clear skies between the subject and the sun are required and just a few clouds in the wrong place can take away this opportunity.  The ideal situation is when there are open skies on the horizon and high clouds near the subject and living in western Washington make these conditions relatively rare; if clouds roll in from the Pacific right at sunset, then those clouds could take away the best light. Having some clouds allows more variety of colors in the sky as different elevations and distances from the horizon produce different colors. Living in Washington State I have the luxury of many dormant volcanos each with dozens of glaciers where I can capture this special lighting that lasts just a few minutes each day.  Planning these shots can take some patience as the sun rises & sets at different places depending on the time of year with about a 70-degree difference between winter and summer solstice; a location that is perfect for winter will likely miss a good portion of the alpenglow in summer.