January 2009 Calendar Picture and Story

Thursday
Feb 9, 2012
1:21:59 PM

Welcome

Calendar Photo and Story For January 2009

Though few see them, the long slanted sunrises of mid-winter are the most colorful and beautiful of the year. This year I set out to capture my native river in that light and had a bit of an adventure in the mix.

I looked up the time for sunrise on Thursday, January 1, 2009 -- 7:20 local time and got up in plenty of time. I live near the river and knew just where to go to get the photo of the sun rising due east right in line with the river. Trouble is that I didn't take into account that in the winter the sunrise shifts far to the south! So from my vantage point I got to watch the sun rise in a place where I couldn't get the photograph I wanted. I did note that a small park on the opposite shore of the river would be the ideal spot.

The next morning, Friday, I left home in plenty of time to drive over the DeSoto bridge, to the small park marked on the above map, and get my tripod and camera set to capture the sunrise photos. It was a perfectly clear morning and the sun rose, red and orange, from the tree line on the opposite shore in a sea of yellow clouds... beautiful! -- Trouble was that I had been in the hospital and the memory card, which NEVER left the camera, had been removed and used to transfer some files to a laptop I was using. My camera couldn't store any photographs I took! Arrrrggggg!!! So I watched the beautiful sunrise and hoped the next morning would be as beautiful.

Looking north along DeSoto bridge at photo park across river

By the next morning I had loaded the camera, changed the batteries, cleaned the lenses... again, and taken several test shots. I even cleaned and oiled the tripod. There was no way I was missing this again. Because it had become such an event, I called a friend, Nora, and she agreed to accompany me and take a few photos of her own. I left home at 5:30, picked up Nora just after 6:00 and we were in place by 6:30 on what proved to be another amazingly clear morning!

To my great fortune, as I started snapping some photos, Nora discovered that, despite new batteries, her camera was broken beyond fixing and would not work at all. Because of this, she was able to keep an eye out for special things which ended up making my pictures so much better! It was Nora who noticed the huge flock of birds soaring in the early morning sky.

It was Nora who spotted the Great Blue Heron which graced the calendar photo and this lone sea gull which I managed to snap just above the glowing clouds on the horizon.

Here are some other pictures I took on our early morning trip.

When Nora and I arrived at the park that morning there was already a young couple on the beach wrapped in blankets and also waiting for the sunrise. They watched me taking pictures and watched the far shore of the river enjoying the event. Finally, as I was packing up my equipment, the couple headed for their van and the guy stepped closer to Nora and I for a moment.

"It was smaller than I thought it would be, and it didn't last very long." He said. "But I bet you got some nice pictures."

"It was beautiful, though, and Yes." I replied. "I hope I did."

By the way, Nora got a nice new camera for her birthday about a week later. She is a natural talent and I'm looking forward to seeing the photographs she takes.

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