I recently made the switch at work to a 4-10 schedule which means I now wake up (too) early, but I get Monday’s off. A while back, we had one of our favorite families over for a couple days and I decided to make the most of the early morning on my day off. I had been wanting to go out to the fields to the south-east of The Dalles to take some pictures of Mt. Hood. I also had just shot a wedding and had some rented gear that I wanted to make good use of before returning it.
With the D800, 24-120mm f4 and a tripod, Andy and I drove up into the wheatland hills searching for a good vantage point. It was early, the sky was just starting to turn to a light shade of blue as we headed out. As we drove along gravel county roads, I found myself excited. It’s been a while since I set out to just take an image, with no guarantee that I’ll come back with anything worthwhile. I hope that at some point in my future, I can make this sort of an excursion a regular part of life. We found our first spot on a high hill, looking straight at the mountain. The sky was glowing gold in the east, which made the wheat sparkle in the morning light. The tip of the mountain was becoming illuminated as the horizon gave way to sun’s steady rise. I had a decent composition, the road we traveled on filled the foreground, the mountain off in the distance and rolling wheat fields in between.
I repositioned a few times, trying something new. We eventually got back in the car and drove off to another vantage point, taking new images as I saw opportunity. I enjoyed this early morning excursion, a much needed break from balancing the pressing issues of life, and a good time with a great friend. I hope you feel the peace and freedom these images provided me.
