Perched on Top

If I’m getting up for sunrise while at home in the Bay Area it’s usually to go visit the Golden Gate Bridge or some other iconic spot in San Francisco. The Bay Area has some other beautiful locations though: tons and tons of rolling hills with beautiful oak trees dotting all over. They become especially pretty in the winter and spring, when all the winter rain turns our golden hills into stunning green hills. On this particular morning we met just before sunrise and looked around, wondering where the clouds were. There was 1 small patch of clouds that might light up, but the rest of the sky was devoid of anything that would catch color. Fortunately for us, that one small cloud happened to plop itself right behind the tree we wanted to photograph! I loved how this scene has criss-crossing hills, that suck the eye in, and then the Oak Tree cements your eye. A bird perched itself on top of the tree, which itself is perched on top of the hill. Big thanks to Willie for hunting for this tree and finding it! Nikon D700 w/Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8: 56mm, f/11, 1/40 sec, ISO 200

Sunrise over the roots of an oak tree

Arrest that Sunrise

If I’m going to get up for sunrise while at home, it usually means I’m heading up to San Francisco to photograph the city. After several years of waking up super early and driving an hour to San Francisco, it was time to start exploring for photographs a little closer to home. Luckily Willie had done all the work and had found a number of trees in Silicon Valley that would be prime for sunrise photography. After rolling out of bed and meeting Willie at the parking lot, we hiked up the hill to this spot where several stunning Oak Trees greeted us. The pre-sunrise glow was *strong* and Willie walked (ran) at a pace that my short little legs could barely keep up with. There were times I had to run just to catch up. He was excited! Sure enough, once the sun did come up, the sky lit up with beautiful pink and orange colors. I love what winter does to these trees - without the leaves you see the amazing (and gnarly) shapes of the Oak Trees. They sweep through the scene and draw your eye in various patterns around this photo. A little bit of rolling hills helps frame the scene and add slight movement. Behind us a rainbow stretched across the entire sky. And of course I was so busy taking photos that I missed my chance to book Yosemite campgrounds, which went on sale just as the sunrise was exploding! Nikon D800 w/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8: 14mm, f/11, 1/8 sec, ISO 200

Just after sunrise, we were greeted with this beautiful rainbow behind us. I just managed to snap the photo in time, as a plane flew through the rainbow!