This morning I drove into the sunrise.  Ok, not really driving into the sunrise, but I was driving East and the sunrise was so beautiful the whole way.   So many times I wanted to stop and pull out the camera for that awesome shot, but I was already cutting it close on time and I couldn’t sacrifice the stop.  Instead I used the time to study how the light fell on things, and I learned a lot.  You should have seen (and I wish I could show you) how amazing the barn and the grain towers looked silhouetted with the gorgeous orange sky behind it.  You should have seen how the orange light hit a red barn warming up the color of the red so beautifully.  You should have seen how the empty road looked ahead of me with the sun peaking in the distance. The images are still in my visual memory bank and I will use them later.  I have been storing these images in my head all my life and this camera thing helps me to show you what I have been seeing. If you ever have the opportunity to be on the other side of my lens you will know that moment when I see one of those visual memories.  I can’t control it, it’s kind of a natural surprised smiling reaction and look on my face that says “I just saw an amazing shot and we need to get it on camera for the world to see.”

The photo below was one of those moments taken a week ago.  I saw this shot in my head and I had to put it into the camera. I was driving with my buddy Duane and I looked at him and said “we have to turn around, I just saw a shot.”  I visualized a couple looking lovingly at each other, or a two people love birds walking and talking to each other.  The only person I had with me was Duane, and he was gracious enough to act as my model for this impromptu proof of concept.