Golden sunrise light on Pyramid Mountain – Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

I waited for nearly two hours to get this shot. It wasn’t a spectacular sunrise, but eventually, first light lit up the side of Pyramid Mountain for a few minutes. I love catching first light on mountain peaks mirrored by a perfectly still lake surface.

There is a sense of separation in this composition: the distant cloud formation seems to mimic the rock formation under water, and a piece of driftwood serves as a lone element connecting with the distant trees on the other side of the lake. The ethereal light on the mountain is the force that binds these displaced elements together. As I wrote in my previous post, light is what you see. I hope you see what you seek.

PS: Perhaps this scene looks familiar? It is the same location where I shot Every Man Should Paddle His Own Canoe.

Golden aspens awaiting first light as the morning mist rises from Patricia Lake, Jasper National Park – Alberta, Canada

I shot this image about fifteen minutes prior to my previous photo, Layers of Stillness. From this view, turn 120° left to see the alpenglow on the Triden Range. Patricia Lake is small and easily accessible, but when those aspens turn colors on a crystal clear lake water surface, this place is incredibly photogenic. Throw in a moody cold Autumn mist rising under a colorful sunrise sky, this place can take one’s breath away. The best part about this beautiful morning sunrise? I saw only two other sunrise watchers enjoying this scene in silence. Out on this small lake, I found my own space and time, and I loved the absolute stillness of this quiet sunrise. This was one of those rare intangible moments that I can’t described nor captured with my camera. I think of myself as a “light chaser”, but it is not just about the light, it’s about finding those “pauses” that make time stands still. “Light” is what you see.

Last week, I took my camera gears to the mountains, hoping to shoot new photos, but for three days, I saw 50 inches of fresh snow and no sun. A day later, I was back on my local beach watching this beautiful scene unfolded right in front of me. What a difference a day makes: from a whiteout blizzard at 8000 feet to a colorful sunset at sea level.

As for the tittle of this shot, I could write a long post about it, but I am leaving possible interpretations to my viewers.

Winter sunrise over Mt Morrison – Eastern Sierra, California

This is my first post for 2011 and I am at a loss of words, unsure what to write. Needing a break, I packed my gears and drove up the mountains last weekend. I should have been home with my family, but I didn’t want to sit around to discuss terminal illness and death and dying yet again.

It’s hard to explain how priceless these moments are to me: sitting in solitude waiting for first light to break through a dark and cold winter night. The process of waiting and anticipating for that first light restores my balance and increases my self-awareness of where I am and where I want to be. When those brilliant colors show up, nothing else matters. Even in the freezing temperatures, my heart glows with the sunrise light.

For those struggling to find your balance, I hope you find your own space that allows you to recharge and regain your focus. It does not have to be an exotic location. All one needs is a place to find inspiration in solitude. If you have not found yours, don’t rush, allow it to find you.

About this photo: The composition is not as clean as I would have liked. I found the left edge too distracting; but due to the ice and snow, my tripod location choices were limited. I used a 0.6 hard-edge GND filter and under-exposed by half a stop. I like to under expose my RAW file slightly to boost colors. As for interpretations, here are a few to think about: fire/ice, peaks/valleys, the end/the beginning, genesis, rebirth, reborn …

A 100 seconds twilight exposure of a Southern California beach shot with a BW ND110 filter.

I haven’t been out on the local beaches as often as I did in the past years. I really missed shooting these shoreline twilight scenes.

Last Friday, I left work early and went straight to the beach. During my rush, I left my remote cable release and Lee filter holder at home. I ended up hand-holding a Lee GND filter with one hand and pressing down on the shutter release button for 100 seconds with the other hand. I wanted to make a longer exposure, but had to cut my exposure time short because I knew that I couldn’t make a sharp enough exposure without my remote cable release. I underexposed this shot by about 1 stop. Thanks to RAW and post processing works, I am able to salvage this shot.

Trying to find time to post … this was shot last December. I haven’t been able to do much sea-side photography lately. This was a two minutes exposure.

A 110 second winter twilight exposure on a Southern California beach.

This long exposure shows the cloud movements and the small pebbles rolling around the sand with the tides.

I shot this over a month ago during my experiment with ND110 filter. I also used a 2 stop hard-edge GND filter on this shot. The BW ND110 added too much saturation to my long exposures. The sky was colorful, but not that intense. The actual scene was much darker. I thought about toning down the colors, but decided to leave it. When I get a chance, I’ll post another version shot without the ND110 filter.

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[Edited 3/1/2010]

After the above long exposure was recorded, I removed the ND110 filter and took a 1/6 second exposure of the same scene at the same aperture (F16) and ISO (200). These two images were shot about 3 minutes apart (counting the 2 minutes exposure time for the first shot). Both raw exposures were converted to JPGs using identical steps.

First Light over Mt. Laurel, Convict Lake – Eastern Sierra, California

This is a color version of a similar shot converted to black and white I posted last week. I guess this is a “normal” view of the scene as opposed to the surrealism feel from the previous high contrast b&w version. The two were shot about an hour apart.