San Dieguito

I was not prepared this morning. I got lazy. I didn't scout a location. And I paid for it.

4:40am: I'm out the door, only a vague idea of where I'm heading. Jeez...am I expecting "the force" to kick in and deliver me to an amazing locale?

4:55am: Head west. Drive to a trail head abutting part of the San Dieguito preserve. Hastily scout the site. Might work if the sunrise cooperates.

5:05am. Jump back in the car. The skies are already a deep blue - sunrise is coming on fast and I'm not settled on a location, let alone setup. Bend traffic laws, check another spot on a bridge overpass. Nope...not good.

5:20am: I'm out of time, back to the trailhead. The blues are already fading from the sky, giving way to a washy gray. The shot will have to be a subject - there will be no sweeping landscape today. Several wildflowers are in bloom, frame some up. Shoot. Wow...that looks "blah".... Move to another flower, recompose, bracket a few frames. Better. Crap! There's a gentle breeze, causing motion blur in my foreground flowers. A few minutes pass, the breeze calms, take a few more frames. Grab an extra with different settings hoping to freeze motion in the flowers.

5:40am: Sunrise has come and gone, but I couldn't tell with all the could cover. Pack it up, head home. Hope I can salvage something in post.

Valley in San Dieguito

Ugh...that motion blur is killing me. Maybe I should caption this "Blurry Purple".