Sun Kissed

On our trip to Acadia, Dan and I were constantly consulting all of our weather apps because we wanted to catch a sunrise. We saw that there was a slight chance of a pretty sunrise the following morning. That small opportunity is all we needed. We woke up at 3a.m. to take advantage of our only opportunity to see the sunrise — and waking up at 3a.m. was the easy part. Luckily, we had scouted the potential location the day before, and we knew where we wanted to be. But, we had to find it in the dark, and it was down along the water’s edge. So, Dan and I traversed and free climbed down twenty feet of granite covered in sea spray. After dozens of falls on the boulders and rolled ankles, we finally made it to the location. We sat in anticipation as the cloud and sea prepared for the best performance of the trip. We were rewarded for our perseverance and dedication. Half an hour before sunrise, we were shown the reason why sunrises are prettier than sunsets. As soon as the sun rose, it went behind the clouds. We adored the sunrise we witnessed, but little did we know, Mother Nature wasn't done stunning us yet. Dan and I stumbled over the boulders and back up the cliff edge. Midway into our free climb back, we turned our heads and we had to pick our jaws up off the ground. Fortunately, we were in a place where we could stop, so I quickly whipped out my tripod and clipped my camera in to capture this moment. I knew I had seconds if I was lucky, and I trusted my balance and grip. I told myself I would do anything for this composition. I turned on the camera, changed the settings, and snapped the shot. In the next frame, the light was absolutely gone. There were no signs of the sun and the flat light began. I then packed up my gear and finished the climb. As we got back to the top, there were countless other photographers firing away, but none of them had the experience or excitement that Dan and I had that morning!