More than any other time of year, during the fall color season I will typically get up and go, regardless of what I think the conditions are.  On this particular morning, had it been any other time of year, I would have probably bailed, based on the weather.  Scroll down and look at the first image in the Alternative Perspectives section – this is what was going on at the beginning of the morning.  There essentially was no sunrise, the parking lot at Kuwohi was totally socked in with clouds, and my expectations for the morning were quickly dwindling.  My buddy Bill just happened to pull into the same overlook where I was shooting, and so we stood around and talked for a bit, and as the fog started changing in the valley, we started shooting, just for the heck of it.  Then, within a few more minutes, the clouds all started shifting, the fog started thinning and moving, and seemingly out of nowhere the light hit.  At first it was like a spotlight through the clouds, then more evenly – it was absolutely amazing to watch and photograph.

There’s a lesson here on friendship, patience, and just going through the motions for the sake of the craft, but I’ll leave that to someone smarter than me!  🙂

More next week!

–Dan Thompson