day 81: dawn of a new era/close of an old time

01.01.10 - i'm always up for a challenge and why not start one on january 1st. i heard about the new year sunrise challenge yesterday and thought i could do this. (saying with my most confident and sarcastic voice) sure, i could get up at the crack of dawn, drag my non-morning person self out of bed, grab one of my 3 cameras and shoot the sunrise. a bunch of photographers both professional and amateurs alike would be doing the same thing as me throughout the world. eh, hard is that going to be?

boy was i wrong. first off, hubby and i didn't get home until past 4:00 am last night... err, morning. however, i was determined that i would wake up before the 7:20 am sunrise anticipated for new york city. my alarm went off at 7:00 am. i got up, assembled my dslr on my tripod, put on my boots, jacket, and scarf. i was ready i tell you. then, something occurred to me. maybe i should survey the area before setting up shop. as i headed out my front door, it hit me. it was cloudy and where the sun usually rises was kinda... well, blah... no glowing orange rays... nothing. frustrated, i decided to log on to google earth to see how long i had for this picture. according to it, i had until 8:15 am or so. hmmm... how can i possibly take an awesome shot with all these clouds and no access to a roof or balcony? grrrr.

i had about given up and decided that maybe i would just take a walk and go to the neighborhood drugstore instead. i ditched the dslr and grabbed my iphone instead with little hope to capture the sunrise moment. so there i was walking for about two blocks and when i turn the corner i start to see a faint hint of yellow on the horizon. can it be? i literally followed the light and after almost making a full circle back to my street there it was... the sunrise. yes, the sky was cloudy but the sun was there. i quickly grabbed my iphone and took a few shots.

now i was feeling ambitious. i had decided i couldn't stop there. i would also attempt to capture the first sunset as well. here's two of the shots of my sunrise/sunset adventures.

wishing you all a happy new year! come on teens. bring it on. i'm ready for ya.