Here Comes The Sun

I left my house at 230 a.m. hoping to be in position to photograph sunrise on the first morning of my annual Fall Colors Trip. I knew this would put me somewhere in the vicinity of the small town of Lone Pine which sits at the base of the eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California.

At dawn the cloud coverage to the east looked promising so I pushed down a little harder on the pedal that moves the little white needle on the odometer until the needle pointed to the white line between 70 and 80. I still wasn't sure exactly where I was going, but I was now in a hurry to get there.

I did have a few destinations in mind for potential sunrise locations and quickly reviewed each opportunity comparing each with the current conditions. Another mile farther north on Highway 395 I decided to head up the Whitney Portal Road and try and find a good vantage point somewhere along or near the road.

I slowed to 25 mph as I entered the town of Lone Pine. The streets were mostly deserted and the colorful neon signs still glowed brightly in the early morning light. I made the left turn on the Whitney Portal Road and 15 minutes later and a couple of thousand feet higher in elevation I began my search for a good spot to enjoy and hopefully photograph a beautiful sunrise.

Not exactly what I visualized. I was frantically searching for a good foreground, but I could not find anything that felt right and now I was running out of time. I had less than 5 minutes, maybe 3, before the sun would emerge from behind the clouds, so I pulled over and made the decision to use the road as a leading line and the bush on the right as an anchor point for this composition. As far as sunrises go, this one was not overly spectacular, but it was pleasing none the less. I made a few photographs here then enjoyed a cup of coffee before heading back down the road in search of my next shot.

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