This morning, I went to the Erie Basin Marina to capture the street lighting along with boats in the harbor. When I photographed the lamps last time, it was in spring and the docks were empty, and I arrived a bit late. The lamps got turned off on me just after a single shot. This time, I did not fare even that well. I found my position, set up the tripod and the camera, framed my shot, and … the lamps went out. For a few seconds, it bothered me. All this early rising for nothing?
Morning Fire over BuffaloSailboats in Erie Basin Marina
I soon refocused though and started watching the clouds towards the east over downtown Buffalo. The potential was certainly there for a colorful sunrise. Tone by tone, the clouds indeed started to lighten up and pick up color. And as the whole sky was covered with a layer of clouds, it was not just the eastern sky. Colors started popping up everywhere, I did not know where to look first.
And then the main show started, still well before sunrise. First, the most distant clouds turned vivid orange, and the colors started traveling across the sky towards me. I started taking pictures before the peak as I knew from the past that one could never know what was going to happen. This morning, nature decided to reward me for the early rising and make up for the mean street lights. At one point, the whole eastern sky was on fire. What a great moment! That is what photography allows me to see, I would still be in bed otherwise.
Have fun and let the situation surprise you!