Anatomy of a Composition - Mornings to Remember
With the school year coming to an end it is a good time to reflect and look forward. Next year will be my 28th as a teacher, which also means that reflection and looking forward on an entire career are in order. But, for now those thoughts are still forming and I’ll focus on the immediate, the present.
Lookout Mountain has offered some incredible sunrises this spring, with February providing many of the most memorable ones. I can make it here in about 30 minutes, so depending on my motivation and what the weather predictions are it is a place I can get to and usually get to work on time from without too many issues. Something about this particular morning though was just it a bit more challenging. The end of the school year has many extras - graduation, hiring committees, planning and scheduling for the upcoming year all seem to want to conspire, and sap that last little bit of energy that we all have at the end of the year, and this year has obviously taken a lot of energy from all of us.
But this morning was different, it was May 18th. I woke up oddly early and decided to take advantage of the pre-dawn hours to organize gear and head out to this favorite spot. I called my mom on the way out to shoot for a quick check-in and to wish her “happy birthday,” something we started doing 20 years ago. Once up on Lookout Mountain I set up one camera for a time-lapse and keep the other camera ready to take advantage to the changing light. The really big, dynamic colors I was hoping for didn’t materialize, but for a brief moment these beautiful colors danced across the sky.
May 18th is my oldest brothers birthday. He died 31 years ago, when he was 31. But his presence is never gone, and I’m grateful for him everyday.
A total of 20 images were used to create the panorama - final images size is close to 125MB. Images were batch edited and stitched together in Lightroom.
May, 2021 - As always, thank you for the support and for joining me on this adventure.
For more thoughts on some of these images, and life’s other travails, head to www.wordpress.com/alma175w
ISO 400 | F/2.8 | 1/320 sec. - 135mm - Sony a7riv & Sony FE 135GM - 20 images edited and stitched together to create this Colorado Sunrise Panorama in an otherwise complicated light.