“SUCCESS COMES TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE WILLPOWER TO WIN OVER THEIR SNOOZE BUTTONS”

One of my favorite memories from family vacations was waking up with my mom to watch the sunrise. My fondest memory of this came in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We were visiting Smoky Mountain National Park. My mom woke me up and asked if I wanted to go for a walk and watch the sunrise. I remember walking out of our lodging and looking up. The sky looked like cotton candy. It is something I will never forget. The one regret I have is that I did not have a camera to capture that moment.

Fast forward 30 years, waking up for sunrise is one thing I get super excited about. It does not matter if I am on vacation, or just off for the weekend. If I check the forecast, and I have a feeling it is going to be “good”, I am up and out the door while it is pitch black outside.

Pink Sunrise was taken on a very cold morning in Longmont, Colorado. This lake is one of my favorite places to go throughout the year. In this photo you can see the frozen lake. The ice forming beautiful designs and textures. If you ever sat next to a frozen lake, some may say it talks to you. The shifting of the ice makes loud noises that disturb a pretty calm environment. That morning I had a feeling the sky was going to light up. The cloud report was good. I was not let down. I must have taken 300 photos that morning. The sky getting better every second as the sun started to come up. The stillness, the colors, it was a magical scene. When the sun finally came up over the horizon, it’s warmth felt amazing.

I credit this photo to my mom. If she did not share the beauty of a sunrise with me when I was a kid, I would not be as motivated as I am today to capture pictures like this.

Location: Longmont, Colorado