Learn Hardcore Japanese: syasinka ha yuuyake no kesiki ga suki desu. - The photographer likes the view of the sunset.

We use は to mark the topic of the sentence. Here, 写真家 (“photographer”) is what we’re talking about—“As for photographers…”. It sets the context before we say what they like.

Why does 好き take the particle が instead of を?

Although in English we think of “liking something” as a verb with a direct object, in Japanese 好き is actually a na-adjective, not a verb. The thing you like behaves like the subject of that adjective, so it’s marked with が rather than を.

Why are there both は and が in the same sentence?

They serve different roles:

は marks the topic (写真家).
が marks the subject of 好き (the thing being liked, 夕焼けの景色).
So the structure is: [topic] は [subject] が [adjective/adverb].

What does 夕焼けの景色 mean, and how does the particle の work here?

夕焼け means “sunset glow.”
景色 means “scenery” or “view.”
The の links them like a possessive or descriptive modifier: “the scenery of the sunset.” In English we’d say “sunset scenery” or “the view of the sunset.”

Can we omit 景色 and just say 夕焼け?

Yes. Saying 写真家は夕焼けが好きです means “Photographers like sunsets.” Adding 景色 simply makes it more specific—emphasizing the view or the landscape aspect of the sunset.

Could we switch 写真家は to 写真家が?

You could say 写真家が夕焼けの景色が好きです, but that sounds odd because you’d then have two が in a row. Typically you’d only use が for the thing you like, and は for the topic. Using は for 写真家 is more natural to introduce the general subject.

Why is です used at the end, and can we replace it with だ?

です is the polite copula, making the sentence polite. In more casual or plain speech you can use だ instead: 写真家は夕焼けの景色が好きだ。 If you’re speaking very informally, you can even drop だ and just say 好き.