Sunrise over Oak Tree and Hills Silicon Valley, California If I’m getting up for sunrise while at home in the Bay Area it’s usually to go visit the Golden Gate Bridge or some other iconic spot in San Francisco. The Bay Area has some other beautiful locations though: tons and tons of rolling hills with beautiful oak trees dotting all over. They become especially pretty in the winter and spring, when all the winter rain turns our golden hills into stunning green hills. On this particular morning we met just before sunrise and looked around, wondering where the clouds were. There was 1 small patch of clouds that might light up, but the rest of the sky was devoid of anything that would catch color. Fortunately for us, that one small cloud happened to plop itself right behind the tree we wanted to photograph! I loved how this scene has criss-crossing hills, that suck the eye in, and then the Oak Tree cements your eye. A bird perched itself on top of the tree, which itself is perched on top of the hill. Big thanks to Willie for hunting for this tree and finding it! Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 56mm, f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 200
Reflection Lake at Sunrise, Spring Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington “A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ~Henry David Thoreau I was struggling to come up with a name for this photo and hoped I could find inspiration from someone better with words than I am. Of course I came across this quote from Thoreau, and there in the middle was the title: Earth’s Eye. That’s exactly how Willie and I felt as we enjoyed sunrise from Reflection Lake on this particular morning. It was cold but it was amazing: a perfect reflection on the lake, Mt. Rainier standing above us, with beautiful patches of wildflowers in front of us. We had briefly stopped at this spot the previous morning only to find the entire scene covered in thick fog. We didn’t have a clue where Mt. Rainier would even be (we thought it was further to the left). To come the next morning and see something completely different was inspiring, and breathtaking. By the time we left we were surrounded by tens of photographers. Luckily we arrived first and could scope out the 2 largest patches of flowers along the lake. The flowers were still blooming (or dying), so there wasn’t much to choose from. We watched the fog form on the lake, then disappear completely. Hopefully you enjoy the beauty of this scene as much as we did, even without an epic sunrise sky going with it. Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 16mm, f/16, 0.4 sec, ISO 100
Glowing Morning Light on The Narrows Zion National Park, UT Zion National Park might be my favorite of all the National Park’s I’ve been to. There’s something about the uniqueness of the hiking that just captivates me. From Walters Wiggles up Angels Landing to hiking in the rivers of The Narrows and The Subway, there’s always something amazing. And those red rock walls! Despite the fact that Willie and I had been to Zion a number of times, we had never brought Sarah or Sammi. We decided to correct that and do a part fun, part photography trip. On our first morning we woke up early, rented gear for the ladies, and hopped into the Virgin River and up The Narrows. Hundreds (thousands?) of photographers have photographed this scene before us but it was one we had previously scouted (and found the location) and wanted to add to the list. We pretty much sprinted here and, of course, another photographer beat us there! Luckily for us it was taking him a while to setup his large format camera and he had no problems with us hopping in front and getting our photos in. Thanks buddy! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 24mm, f/11, 0.5 sec, ISO 250
