A good photographer is always prepared.

So, here's the story... my friend Sean and I are in a Nature Photography class together and we decided we wanted to go out and take nature pictures together. I told him we should go at sunset because it's the best lighting (other than sunrise) and I really didn't want to get up early for the sunrise. He said that he thought sunrise would be better, and we both had things to do that evening so why no do it early? Well... the day before that I had been snowboarding all day, so I was dead tired and sore. And I sprained my thumb or something. So getting up at 6AM did not sound good to me. But, being the good friend I am, I woke up on time at 6AM and walked out my door to meet Sean. I was in my PJs and slippers and I threw on a jacket before I left. I meet up with Sean and he is wearing jeans with thermals underneath, a sweatshirt and a jacket, a beanie, some gloves, and hiking shoes. He asked if I would be okay wearing what I was wearing and I said, "Yeah sure, I'll be fine."

Clearly I was not able to think straight that early or being as tired as I was. I did not realize that Sean was wanting to go on a hike to see the sunrise. So we head out in his warm car and go to Rock Canyon Park. When we got there it was still dark outside, and so we decided to make the trek up the trail into the mountains. The trail was covered in snow. And remember, I am in just my slippers, with no socks, and just one pair of sweats on with a t-shirt and a jacket. So we start hiking and I was getting warm from the hike, but then when we got to our spot I started to realize how cold it was. Then Sean saved the day and pulled out a thermos of hot chocolate he had prepared. That kept me warm for about 5 minutes. Then Sean gave me his gloves, but that didn't really help either. We waited for what seemed like forever for the sun to come up, and finally we saw some light so we started shooting. We took pictures for a while but we never saw the sun... we just saw the beautiful lighting. We wanted to see the sun! Finally we gave up and walked back to the car because I was frozen. Sean graciously accepted my offer of going to Kneader's for some french toast and hot chocolate and treated me to a nice breakfast where we thawed out on the couch.

So, moral of the story: always be prepared for a photoshoot. I was too cold and miserable to get very many decent pictures, but luckily I got a few. Here they are.