Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I woke up wide awake just before 4AM and before I could talk myself out of a morning “stretch my legs” hike I got up, dressed, ate, and left the house and headed to my lonely tree on the “Steep Hill” overlooking Santa Clara Valley.

Once I got to the top of the hill I set up my camera and took a few images of Blue Period and the little bit of color that was in the sky looking East, and then I heard to my right an Owl Hooting its morning greeting. It wasn’t too long after that the Blue Jays, and Sparrows started their morning songs, and two ladies came up over the top of the hill stretching their legs too with an early morning hike. We chatted a few minutes then they continued up the hill.

I waited for the Sun to crest the Diablo Mountain Range, but just before it did and during the Sun’s rise the colors grew in intensity, and splendor.  All the while the Owl and birds continued their morning salutations. It was glorious!
Just a few minutes after this the colors began to fade so, I packed up my gear and hiked up to the tippy top of the hill then headed home for another cup-a-tea.

Nikon D700| AF-D Nikkor 24mm @f16| 1/30s| ISO 200| Manual Priority| Matrix Metering| Tripod

More to come…