I did a dusk shoot at the Castle Top overlooking the River Nidd and viaduct here in Knaresborough on a pleasant evening early last month and another photographer there asked me how far the sun moved round towards the viaduct towards the summer solstice.  I had to admit that I didn’t know exactly where it would set on the solstice – so I thought I’d better have another look this month!  The weather forecast was for a couple of cloudy days over the solstice itself, so I went out and had a look on 19th June which was a nice sunny evening.  The sun’s position doesn’t quite reach the viaduct when viewed from the viewpoint but it still works quite well – if you like shots with the sun in the frame, that is.  For comparison with the June shot above, here’s a shot showing the sun’s position at the May shoot…

I stuck around a bit longer after the sun had set to take some twilight images (my preference) and was rewarded with some lovely pink light for a few minutes.

As the dusk deepened the pink hue faded away, but there was still nice colour in the sky and the floodlighting became more prominent.

So was it worth going back on (or near) the summer solstice? I think I prefer the May shot myself simply because the foliage looked a bit fresher then and the trees are starting to take on the drab summer green look now – but both versions have their merits.  Which do you prefer?