Sunrise—Owens Valley

Mike huddled in his sleeping bag, loathe to challenge the early morning cold outside the tent. But he knew that the first light of sunrise was starting to touch the higher peaks, so he resolutely wriggled out of the bag and into his clothes, popped two handwarmers into his North Face down jacket, unzipped the door and stepped out. He stood facing the Sierra crest, gazing at Lone Pine Peak and Mt. Whitney; then he turned around.

Dark clouds were moving in from the east, tinged red by the rising sun. He stood and stared for a second, then moved to his car, threw the camera in, and took off for the ridge overlooking Owens Valley. Once there, he mounted the camera—an Olympus E-510—on his flimsy—yet sturdy enough—tripod, intermittantly jamming his hands into his pockets and clutching the handwarmers. This photograph consists of three vertical shots, combined in Photoshop.

Photograph: Sunrise—Owens Valley, 2008