Streaks of bright blue and yellow shone through the heavy clouds as the sun rose this morning. I used a long exposure here to hopefully best accentuate the colors and mood of this powerful scene.
Saturday, March 14, 2015 (Day 73)
I barely got any sleep last night. The baby kept us up all night, and it was pouring outside when my alarm finally went off. It’s Saturday. It was one of those mornings where I was left thinking “Why am I doing this to myself?” It would have been easy to have just gone back to bed. But I am determined to photograph the sunrise every morning that I am physically able, and see how long I can do it and see where it takes me. Almost automatically, I got out of bed and started to get ready. Based on the weather, I knew immediately in my head the location where I would go for this morning’s photo.
The rain was coming down steadily. There was a dense fog hanging over the city, chopping off the tops of the skyscrapers, and I knew I wanted to capture it. I also knew the rain would create some nice reflections on the ground.
I had an umbrella, but that only lasted a few minutes until I got to my shooting location. At that point, I needed two hands to get set up and start shooting. I got drenched. It’s a good thing my equipment is water-sealed. Raindrops kept getting on the front of my lens, despite my best efforts (using a lens hood, holding my umbrella over my camera, etc). I repeatedly kept wiping my lens off so the drops wouldn’t get in the way. In the end, the photograph I liked best ended up being the one with raindrops on the lens, because I felt it best conveyed this morning’s scene.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 (Day 69)
This pier is a work of art in itself, with its flowing curves that snake along the waterfront. There was a bit of a haze hanging over the city this morning, which helped to diffuse the light of the rising sun.
Although this daily project of mine started out primarily as a lifestyle challenge to rise before dawn and take a simple photo–any photo–of the sunrise each morning, the photography aspect of it has been becoming more and more important. As I’ve continued to push myself harder, it has been extremely gratifying to see the improvements in my photography over the past few months.
I still have a lot to learn, but this is more about the journey than the destination.
Monday, January 19, 2015 (Day 19)
Went back out by the water this morning, and I’m glad I did, because I found this great spot at a recently-built pier. I’ll definitely be coming back to this spot in the future.
Pier photos like this are usually taken at a place such as a beach, bay, or lake. I don’t often see photos like this of a city skyline. I hope I was able to take a somewhat cliche subject (looking toward end of a pier) and give it a slightly different context that you might not expect.