We often have these sunsets in the mountains of central Italy, but this is the only time I managed to capture the same colors I saw with my naked eyes. DSLR with an expensive zoom lens, so I do not intend to compare this with any other picture taken with a better quality/cost ratio camera.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taymtaym/9487572405/in/set-72157635026128759

Doug's picture that opened this thread: technically very impressive, very. And I agree a superzoom point and shoot has a quite good price point for the flexibility it offers.
BUT, do I find it exciting? Honestly, not that much.
I found myself getting a DSLR, a bunch of expensive lenses, and a heavy Kata bag that I carry in most of my trips, precisely because I was so impressed with DSLR picture quality, that all the disadvantages of a big DSLR were way less relevant, to me, than the benefit of a higher image quality.

This is very subjective, of course. I do understand who chooses differently, but, as far as I am concerned, I'd not go back to anything less than my DSLR. It just gives me joy and fun and intense emotions when I look back at the few good pictures (out of thousands) that I manage to take. Looking at noisy, non-sharp photographs, just does not feel the same to me, at all; it is not as magic and intense.

Fantastic layering! We have a nice print on the wall here of blue/purple layers similar to that which some human artist painted. But hard to beat the real thing!

Great shot!

Thank you!

Yes, one of those magic moments I could NEVER capture until I got some good gear. Of course, maybe it is me not being able to get the most out of a point and shoot.

That was taken with a 6D + 70-300L lens.

That's a great photo

Here's the best I could do on such short notice.

How did u take it in IR?