Waiting For It

These photos are from my first shoot of the year 2011, on January 2. The previous morning was not good for a lot of color in the sky. I typically check the cloud formations thirty to forty minutes before sunrise. When it looks like good photographic conditions will arise, I ride to a favored location and set up the tripod. As often, this morning would be good from Anza Narrows, and I had adequate time to ride there and set up. So much about landscape photography is dependent on getting to the right spot to shoot. Obviously, if you’re not in the right place, there is no photograph. The rest is a matter of waiting for the light, particularly during the Golden Light of a sunrise or sunset.  The sequence of frames in this post was captured over a period of twenty-nine minutes.

The photo above was the first frame captured. The clouds, ripples of gray just two minutes before, were beginning to split the light nicely, a foreshadowing of warmer highlights.

Above, the fringe of red is beginning to climb out of the east. The long ridge on the left is Box Springs Mountain. The bump in the center is formed by the shoulders of Mt. San Jacinto, some forty miles away. The peak is obscured by clouds (but in a non-Pink Floyd way).

Above, the color looked good, but I knew it hadn’t peaked yet.

The photo above shows the strong colors I was waiting for. This was the peak of the light.

Above, the colors are softening. The light is on the wane.

Above, the light is quickly fading. Within a couple minutes the golden light was completely gone and the sky cover a cold gray-blue.