And then the Sun came out

[JimFox]

This is from a few weeks back up by Dallas Divide in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado. It was one of those totally thick cloudy and rainy mornings, the kind where you think there is no point in photographing as it will be too cloudy. And then you go out to photograph anyway.

So out I went. The clouds were fast moving, so prior to sunrise I shot several long exposures with the moving clouds. I was shooting from close to the parking lot area and then I noticed that it looked like the sun was going to be able to maybe burn a hole through the clouds at the horizon. But if it did, I was in the totally wrong spot, as there would be the hill by the parking lot, plus the cars in the photo.

So I grabbed my gear and ran on up the road about an eight of a mile to an area where I knew I could get the sun breaking through in my photo and the way the road angled and curved in a bit, I would then avoid that small hill and the cars in the parking lot but be able to have some really cool trees in the foreground. Just as I got to about where I wanted to be and then all of a sudden the sun started to burn a hole through a small area on the horizon. And suddenly that dark morning had a rush of sunlight pouring through with a beam of light. I set my tripod down, composed real fast and this is what I got. This light lasted this intense about 2 or 3 minutes, and then it was gone.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

 

[AlanLichty]

Very cool to be at the right place at the right time with your gear. I love the colors you captured here with the lighting like this.

The colors on a cloudy morning can be quite nice with trees like these. I was wishing for cloudy mornings when I was down at Sweet Creek a week ago.

 

[Ben Egbert]

This is really sweet Jim, good way to save the day, all that jogging paid off.

 

[Alisa]

WOW Jim this is so beautiful and colorful! I love it! VERY nice capture here!

 

[Douglas Sherman]

OMG!!!!! Talk about a spectacular image. You should give yourself the Daily Featured Post award right now. Alright.. everyone who thinks Jim should get the Daily Featured Post reply with your name below.

Doug Sherman

 

[JimFox]

Very cool to be at the right place at the right time with your gear. I love the colors you captured here with the lighting like this.

The colors on a cloudy morning can be quite nice with trees like these. I was wishing for cloudy mornings when I was down at Sweet Creek a week ago.

Thanks so much Alan, I am glad you like this.

 

[JimFox]

This is really sweet Jim, good way to save the day, all that jogging paid off.

Thanks Ben.

PS.... it's running... I don't jog.

 

[Kyle Jones]

Just stunning Jim! You nailed the backlit colors, the clouds and mountains add a great background. Feature this bad boy!

 

[Tom Narwid]

This is from a few weeks back up by Dallas Divide in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado. It was one of those totally thick cloudy and rainy mornings, the kind where you think there is no point in photographing as it will be too cloudy. And then you go out to photograph anyway.

So out I went. The clouds were fast moving, so prior to sunrise I shot several long exposures with the moving clouds. I was shooting from close to the parking lot area and then I noticed that it looked like the sun was going to be able to maybe burn a hole through the clouds at the horizon. But if it did, I was in the totally wrong spot, as there would be the hill by the parking lot, plus the cars in the photo.

So I grabbed my gear and ran on up the road about an eight of a mile to an area where I knew I could get the sun breaking through in my photo and the way the road angled and curved in a bit, I would then avoid that small hill and the cars in the parking lot but be able to have some really cool trees in the foreground. Just as I got to about where I wanted to be and then all of a sudden the sun started to burn a hole through a small area on the horizon. And suddenly that dark morning had a rush of sunlight pouring through with a beam of light. I set my tripod down, composed real fast and this is what I got. This light lasted this intense about 2 or 3 minutes, and then it was gone.

All comments are welcome,

Jim

View attachment 13314

Lovely

 

[Jeffrey]

Fabulous landscape image, Jim. This happens when the sunlight finds the hole!

 

[TimMc]

Chalk one up to experience and anticipation. Great shot Jim

 

[Darcy Grizzle]

Wow wow wowza that is gorgeous!

 

[JimFox]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post!

 

[Kyle Jones]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post!

Nice! Glad you did this.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Fantastic. Perfect capture (and prossessing) of a moment we all seek, that makes our spirts sing with joy. Thanks for sharing that with us. Congrats on the well deserved daily feature!

 

[Dean]

Beautiful shot Jim.. way to be persistent.
My friend has a saying he tells me all the time..Luck favors the prepared.
Regards,
Dean

 

[Bill Crawford]

Wow! Don’t you love it when things work out and you get the shot, in a situation where it could go either way? I’ve had a couple of those, but usually I miss it. This a a beautiful photo, good job!

 

[JimFox]

Fantastic. Perfect capture (and prossessing) of a moment we all seek, that makes our spirts sing with joy. Thanks for sharing that with us. Congrats on the well deserved daily feature!

Thanks so much Jim, it was a joyful morning.

 

[JimFox]

Beautiful shot Jim.. way to be persistent.
My friend has a saying he tells me all the time..Luck favors the prepared.
Regards,
Dean

I appreciate that Dean! It was almost as if I could see 2 minutes into the future and knew exactly where I needed to be. Now if only I could see into the future as to what the next lotto numbers would be...

 

[JimFox]

Wow! Don’t you love it when things work out and you get the shot, in a situation where it could go either way? I’ve had a couple of those, but usually I miss it. This a a beautiful photo, good job!

Thanks so much Bill! Yeah, it was cool to be aware and see what was potentially going to happen and then get myself into position for if that did happen, and then to watch it happen was a really sweet feeling!