Lake Hodges

It's 4:20am. I'm tired. My joints are stiff. It's dark. Without remorse or empathy, the alarm cuts through the silence and rips me away from a glorious sleep. I usually sleep in on Sunday. In fact, it's the only day I get the chance to sleep in. But that alarm. The alarm I set last night. Ugh. Why did I do this to myself?

I know why. I keep complaining silently to myself that I don't have time to feed my hobby of photography. Sure, I take my camera if I travel for business, and snap photos of the family during the week. But nature and landscape photography, that's what I want. And you gotta hit the golden hours, when the light is right, for the best shots. With a young family, evenings are tough - harder to break away from the duties of the day. That leaves me with sunrise.

So no more whining. Today is the day I start acting. So I'm up - well, at least half up. The rest of the family sleeps while I tip-toe out the door. Man, I hope this pays off....

Today I go to Lake Hodges in San Diego. Near home, shorter drive. Maybe if this pans out, I'll venture farther from home - which means getting up earlier. I groan, push that thought aside, and return to the task at hand - which at the moment is stumbling down a very dark footpath along the lakeside. Next time, bring a torch, dummy.

It's chilly, the air is crisp, a lot of cloud cover. It's 20 minutes before sunrise, and I don't think the sun will break. I find a decent spot, compose the shot, take several exposures.

Lake Hodges, San Diego: ~20 minutes before sunrise

Wait some more, recompose a bit. The clouds are breaking some, more orange flecks in the clouds, some great movement and drama in the sky. But I'm losing the blues in the lake. I'm here - take the shot.

Lake Hodges, San Diego: ~15 minutes after sunrise

Mental note - revisit this spot in March or April, when the greens on the hillsides haven't been burned out yet.

Ok, I'm done. Some fisherman are rolling in. Yawning, I find my way back up the footpath. Trudge back to my car. Key to ignition, swig a caffeinated drink, drive home.

It's bright now. The house is quiet. Everyone is still sleeping. I should sleep too, but eager to start post on the shots just taken. And if I don't do it now, it could easily be a week before I get processing them....