Man vs. Sunrise

Last night I chased down the sunset and claimed a narrow victory.

This morning, I had the upper hand. First, it's my day off, and second, even if I did have to work, I start at 11am. Sunrise would stand no chance of eluding me like sunset.

I even woke at 5am, a solid 2.5 hours ahead of the actual sun rising, thereby allowing myself plenty of time to scout out and settle into a nice spot. My superior planning skills were the perfect strategy for capturing a glorious dawn, and I clearly had the upper hand.

As I ventured towards my final destination, a nice little spot with a perfect view of the morning color, a fearsome ally of sunrise made its last ditch attempt to thwart my best laid plans…green algae. I slipped like a mother *@#%&!, and lay moaning on the ground, knee and elbow throbbing. "Damn you algae" I screamed, "curse you, evil ally of sunrise!"

I was bent, but not broken. I picked myself up from the mat, struck with a mighty blow in sunrise's favor. Aching, I set up my tripod, secured my footholds, as I would not be denied this day.

Nikon D300
Tokina 11-16mm @ 12mm
3sec @ f16, ISO 100
B+W Polarizer
Lee .9 Hard and .6 Soft Stop ND Grad Filters