Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Chasing Light

With daylight savings time recently "jumping forward", I find myself chasing light once again. For the last couple months, sunsets have been too late for me to shoot them during my late breaks at work like I had in December and January.

Now they are just after I end my shift. So, I chased the sunset on Monday, only to have it dissolve into gray. I felt Tuesday would be the same, so I didn't even bother going somewhere to try and shoot. But as I drove home, I could tell the sunset was a winner, and I was chasing light once again.

I had my camera gear with, always important to do, and I pulled into my driveway and jogged down to the beach near my house. Not having any strong foreground elements, I shot with my telephoto lens to capture and isolate the most vivid portion of the sky. I relied on a simple composition to showcase the two contrasting colors and the silhouette of the iconic Santa Cruz coastline.



The very next morning, I anticipated a dramatic sunrise. Hey, if sunset was so intense, maybe the next morning will be special. And oh, it was. Although I was better prepared for the sunrise, I was still chasing that light. I scouted for a solid hour before the magical time that is 20-30 minutes before the actual sunrise.

I took a hard spill due to some slick green algae, and the fact that I was wearing old shoes with worn soles. You see, most of my shoes are in various states of drying out from getting wet while shooting. Central California's oceans are pretty darn frigid, and the air isn't too warm at 6am either, so barefoot or sandals are not my first choice for footwear. Anyway, onto the image. I persevered through the pain of the fall, and captured that glorious sunrise. My chasing light paid off.

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