Day 175 - Rise and shine!

I didn't get to post over the last few days as I was in a photography workshop that I helped organize for my photo club at work.  It went off pretty well, although there are no photos from the workshop - it was mostly aimed at complete beginners, but being one of the organizers, I had to be present.

However, on one of the evenings, I took some nice shots of the night lights as I was waiting for the bus back home.  And when I went out this morning, I accidentally deleted all of them! :(  I was really looking forward to seeing how they had turned out, as the preview looked pretty darn good.  Oh, well!

I saw a few wisps of clouds last night and decided that we might have a nice sunrise today.  So, I was out of the house by about 6:30 am, since the sunrise was supposed to be at 7:19.  It was chilly at -1 deg. C, with the chill factor at -5.  But the moment I stepped out of the building, I realized that I was going out for nothing - not a cloud in the sky!  We'd have a normal sunrise, with nothing to add interest to the skies.  I know the birds are mostly gone already, except a few chickadees and starlings.  I almost half-turned to return home to my warm bed.  But then I told myself - "Rise and shine!  'Tis the dawn of a new day!"  And with that, my mood lifted dramatically, and I headed for the riverside.

I set up and took a few shots as the red glow smeared the horizon - alas, nothing inspiring; nothing spectacular.  And I'm a little tired of the same locations.  I definitely need to find some place more inspiring, but the problem is getting there before dawn.  I really have to start doing some early morning driving.

I picked up my camera and tripod, and headed into the thick brambly bushes along the shore.  I knew there was a canoe that I had found lying under some trees, and I figured that the first rays of the sun would hit the boat lying in the underbrush.  I saw the sun peaking out from below the horizon, and I stumbled over some roots and almost fell with camera et al.  Fortunately, I grabbed a tree-branch and steadied myself and also got a shot at the sun, although the image is too cluttered! :(  I could not move around for a cleaner shot of the precise moment the sun popped up.

And then a little ahead, I found the boat! And exactly as I had hoped to find it.  Here are a few of the images from different angles.  

I have a few other shots of birds and squirrels, and some more leaves (I just couldn't resist those leaves!), but I think I will take some time to process them later.  

However, considering the number of times I stumbled over roots, and twisted my ankles (fortunately, not severely), I think for next year, I will buy some good hiking shoes to get into these parts of the terrain.  I can't afford to break either my photography gear, or my mobility gear (read feet, ankles, and other appendages). 

À la prochaine!