Do Extraordinary Things
Dark clouds were rushing over the city this morning. The clouds were coming from east to west over my head, probably being pushed by the strong eastern wind. There was a bright pink patch of sky at the northern horizon, so I thought there might be a chance the whole sky would light up, but it never did. Most of the clouds remained dark gray, but there were a few glimmers of pink in the swirling clouds above which made for quite a scene.
The humid, misty air meant I could now add mosquitoes to the list of challenges I face in the morning. And today, they won.
I struggled for a while to get any kind of shot worth using, and for a while there was nothing but washed out grey all around me. But eventually a few faint breaks in the clouds appeared, and let through a tiny bit of sunlight.
Normally I don’t use a polarizer to shoot directly in to the sunlight, but on a hazy day like today it helped cut the glare and bring out at least a little bit of the scene’s natural color.
It was exciting to see so much going on in the sky this morning. Layers of churning clouds added depth and changed the scene continuously. Breaks in the clouds slowly appeared and disappeared, letting through blotches of light. Some pink light broke through for a few brief moments. Even the lights atop the Empire State Building were on, which seems to be becoming more common on cloudy mornings. Admittedly, this shot could have been a lot better. This was my first shot of the morning, and I had arrived at this location a minute or so too late, and the pink color was already starting to fade. So I was in a rush to set up, and as a result the composition, focus, and camera settings could have been better. But I learned early on in this project not to worry about missed opportunities. You just need to do the best you can with your current situation, and never look back.
Sunrise at the piers. At first the sky appeared to be totally clear, but when I arrived at this location in the waterfront I saw a cluster of pink clouds in the north. This shot was one of the first I took this morning, and within minutes the pink began to fade. I had some nice shots later on, but these pink clouds were really the highlight.
Trying to see the light. The sky was completely overcast this morning, but for a few short moments the sunlight tried to break through.