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I spent this morning searching for a beautiful sunrise to photograph. I got up early, dressed warmly and excitedly hopped in my car. The sun was still down when I backed out of the garage, so I was optimistic about my chances.
The night before we had a nice, thick snow that had fallen pretty softly. It blanketed the world with a new white glow and I was eager to see what the sun would do with the white glitter over the earth.
I drove towards the sunrise but took the wrong path at the interstate. I choose to go north and then around the city to the Arboretum, hoping to beat the rising of the sun to the place I envisioned would be a great opportunity. I kicked my self over and over again, thinking that I should have gone south. It would have been quicker…There would be other locations that I could take pictures from…The scenery is better that direction…and other doubts kept coming to mind.
Fortunately, the sun still laying low on the horizon when I arrived at the Arboretum. I quickly drove to the bottom of the hill, in an effort to get a unique vantage point within the trees. Everything was still looking good as I pulled along side of the field.
Then, all of a sudden, I was defeated. Looking around the area, not only was the sunrise not producing a gorgeous golden glow (or any other strong colors in the spectrum), but there were no remarkable trees to frame my perfect shot with. To add insult to injury, off on the horizon, directly in the frame of the pending sunrise, was a large and garish power pole. Ughhh….
So, I spent some time walking through the Arboretum, searching for some photo opportunities to salvage my perfect morning. As I crested the top of a low hill, I turned around. Behind me, where I had just come from, was a calm and serene image of a morning that I was enjoying. The only tracks in the new snow were my own, and what probably was a raccoon or other small mammal. A peace came over me, and it provided me with a sense of relief, knowing that my morning had not been entirely uneventful. I found a shot that I enjoyed and then headed back to my car.
Since I was awake, and the music from my playlist was loud, I decided to quickly try a different location. Hopefully, I might still get some daylight shot during the morning’s golden hour. Nearby was another local park, so I figured I would drive there quickly.
Ahh….first one here as well. No footprints, no tire tracks, no human interaction yet this morning. I grab my camera from the car and quickly head off towards the path leading towards some trees and the rising sun. I had never been to this park, so I had no idea what to expect, or where I was truly going. Just me and my camera, and a glimmer of anticipation of what I might still find.
A crested a small hill and came upon a wonderful surprise. Here, in front of me, was a frozen pond circled by reddish brown quartz rock (native to our area). In the middle of the pond, a small pool had thawed, providing an opening in the ice. In that opening, with the sun creating a light wisp of steam, were a multitude of geese and a couple of ducks. They were swimming and eating. They were sleeping alongside the water and some were playing in it.
This image was taken near that spot. I found a place where I could frame the sunrise and capture the golden glow from the sun. I love the flare and the color reflection from my lens. I spent some time taking the picture, and then more time watching the geese play and enjoying the steam from the water.
After all my anticipation, I did not get the picture that I wanted. However, I did get an image that I love, and a memory to hold.
Hold hands…
Average Fadre 