"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle." Walt Whitman
A couple of weeks ago, as with most any morning, I stepped to the front window of our house to gauge the sunrise possibilities. There was a hint of color on the bottom of the still darkened clouds and a clear line of sky at the horizon. No wind was stirring and there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground. Solution...get in the truck and go.
After driving for what seemed to be an eternity the color in the sky was beginning to peak and I was still hunting for that good ol' foreground anchor. There had to be some rural road with a nice clear shot of sunrise with a subject of interest as a lead in. But where the heck was it? A few moments later I hit a familiar gravel road and I knew a couple of old friends that just might be the answer. When I pulled over to the side of the road my inner voice, you remember my inner voice, was yelling (always yelling is this voice) get out and HURRY! A couple of minutes later and a couple of clicks later the light was beginning to fade and then...gone. Nature waits for no one, especially a photographer.
This image is the result of merging two images at the exact same location...one properly exposed for the sky and one properly exposed for the foreground. There are times when I prefer this method over an HDR capture, such as with fast moving clouds, which was the issue in this case.
Like regular human friends, photographic friends (subjects) are around when you really need them, and, as with human friends, they are a joy to share the morning with.
Thank you for joining me today and please feel free to comment.
SIC 'EM BEARS!
My book "Places I've Been, Things I've Seen" and new book "Take What's Given" can be purchased online at- http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1868649
For more views of my work visit;
"A Piece Of Work", Spirit Lake, Iowa http://www.apieceofworkinc.com
Lanesboro Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota www.lanesboroarts.org
BetterPhoto.com http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Default.aspx?id=251674&mp=V
http://500px.com/pigs4u
Really like the effect and the photo. I will have to chat with you on how the whole merge thing works once I can play with my CS5 a bit more. I, too, have a couple trees I will revisit if we ever get any snow during our "May-like" winter.
Posted by: Darin | January 06, 2012 at 03:11 PM
Thanks for the comments, Darin. I would be glad to talk to you anytime if I can help.
Posted by: Daniel Ruf | January 07, 2012 at 07:46 AM
Dan, that's a real keeper-thanks for sharing- you're getting off to a good start for 2012!
Posted by: Mike Houge | January 08, 2012 at 11:29 AM
Luckily there was snow to help with this image. We need more! Thank you, Mike for your kind comments and friendship.
Posted by: Daniel Ruf | January 15, 2012 at 09:28 AM