Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.Robert Frost
I have loved this poem since I was a child. And as I have become a photographer, this poem captures the essence of why I crawl out of bed long before the sun rises, gather my camera gear and venture out where few go in hopes of capturing the perfect picture.
Last Friday morning I did exactly that while vacationing in Utah. The alarm chimed at 3:30am California time. I fumbled around in the dark of night to get dressed, grabbed my gear and drove into Bryce Canyon National Park while many slept soundly in their beds.
I walked out to Bryce Point to be greeted by a few other early risers. After a few more arrived I left in search of solitude. I found a trail off the beaten path and while I captured many images of the sun lighting up the hoodoos that fill Bryce Canyon, I was drawn to the sun as it’s light fell upon this leafless Bristlecone Pine tree. I was intrigued by the limbs branching out in every direction against the contrasting blue sky.
And when I returned home with my hard drive filled with over 1,200 images, this was the one image I couldn’t wait to see on my monitor at home. “Did I capture the beauty of that moment as seen through my eyes?” I wondered. How impatient was I, waiting for Lightroom to Import my images. Praying I wouldn’t see the “Lightroom Not Responding” error message. Alas the import is complete. I quickly seek out the images from this early morning. I was thrilled to have exposed my digital sensor correctly and captured the beauty of the tree branching out in the sunrise.
