Quiet Light
The days are getting shorter... but if the mornings start off like the image above I won't mind! It is the weekend of the Summer Solstice and while most normal people celebrate the solstice as the official start of summer, I always have a slight twinge of regret since it also means the days will start getting shorter. You know how much I love the outdoors and so I worry about things like this. ;)
Marilyn and the girls left for the beach Saturday morning so I was going to spend the entire weekend outside - hiking and photographing. I decided I would spend not just the day, but also the night, in the Pinelands of NJ. Why drive back and forth? Why not photograph Saturday evening's show of color, then "camp" overnight in my jeep on a sand road in the Pines, and be there for Sunday morning's colorful sunrise?
It was a bit of a stormy afternoon on Saturday and I did some storm chasing. I made some nice pictures of the sun lighting up the foreground with ominous clouds in the distance. After the storm passed over, I photographed reflections of delicate reeds and lily pads on water with alternating bands of pastel blue and warm yellow in the lowering sun. I was in position for the sunset with big sweeping clouds of color in the sky and reflecting on the water. And my dessert was wild blueberries washed clean by a summer rain.
The longest day also means it is the shortest night - perfect, since I was a bit nervous sleeping in the still night of the very (very) dark Pines. Nothing happened (which is good) - but I'd be lying if I said I had a great night's sleep. My setup was surprisingly more comfortable than I thought it would be - but I think I slept with one eye open all night!
The early wakeup call for sunrise brought disappointment - there would be no fiery sunrise reflecting off the water of Whitesbog this morning - everything was fogged in! But I didn't give up or go back to sleep. I decided to enjoy what I was given this morning. As the fog started to burn off, I noticed this scene glowing with the warm diffuse light of the sun and mist. And, as it turns out, I like this image more than all the other ones put together. This image, from a "disappointing" foggy morning. :)