MN-98-67-BW

Mackerel skies over Brule Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota

I rarely oversleep when on the job, but on this day I did. A white-throated sparrow woke me up and when I poked my head out of the tent to see if it was going to be sunny or cloudy, I saw a spectacular pre-dawn glow lighting up the clouds in the sky. I had a composition picked out, but it was half was across the lake. Knowing I was going to miss the good light, I clambered into the canoe anyway and paddled as hard as I could across a glass calm lake. By the time I arrived the pinks and oranges had long since faded and were replaced by blues. I managed to expose a few sheets of film before the sun burned hole in the clouds. It was a nice consolation shot, but the original had to have been golden. Photo © copyright by Gary Alan Nelson.