Long exposure photos of cars traveling along a road are nothing new. Many of these photos are taken at night when the lights from the cars are easily captured by the camera. It is much harder to capture those lights around dusk and dawn. The lights are not as bright and the shutter speeds in the brighter ambient light are usually much shorter unless you are using a Neutral Density filter to block additional light. When I set out to capture a long exposure photograph at this location, I did not want to wait until the sky had turned dark to take my photo. It was important to me that I incorporate the colors of the sunset into the photo. But, to do so I needed to overcome that challenge of the car lights not being bright. The solution was to take multiple photos.

As the sun began to set the sky erupted in a beautiful orange glow. Activity near Mount Rushmore began to pick up as Air Force One flew overhead, followed by a trio of helicopters, to include Marine One. Shortly after Marine One touched down at the monument, the famed Blue Angels came roaring over the monument as the crowds gathered on the hillside with me!