What makes an amateur photographer leave the comfort of his home day after day in search of the perfect sunrise, if not pure love, pure passion?
After a frustrating outcome the day before, which involved jumping out of bed at 5:00 on a windy and very cold morning, we tried our luck again almost on the same location we had chosen the day before.
After piercing through the darkness of the night, turn after turn, we reached our destination, we found a spot high above the clouds and with the sun still a good 30 minutes away from turning up on the horizon. Over 1800 meters high at Pico do Arieiro, accompanied by a cold cutting and dare punishing wind, we found ourselves facing a blanket of clouds worthy of any film produced in the American Mecca of cinema… the conditions, though harsh, were looking good. Left to see if we would be able to take advantage of them.
At that moment I thought, even if I didn’t take any picture it would have been worth just for the show that was revealed before our eyes. As the sunlight illuminated the valley before us, it was increasingly obvious that we had chosen well…The show, which is renewed every day, but every time surprisingly different, that day had booked for us a dance of clouds roaming through the mountain peaks, without rules or standards set and that in our eyes looked like one symphony of the senses with color, wind, cold… in tune with something greater than us all.
After the first shots, I saw this opportunity. The composition, already magnificent, gained a scale with the introduction of the human element that contemplates and records the moment for eternity. One of my companions of numerous outputs added as he headed there «I go there so you can make the photo of the day!” And it turned out he was right!
With a very little productive result the day before, it would have been much easier to stay in the comfort of a warm bed instead of going out in the wind and the cold that kept us company that morning… but, at the end of the day, it all paid off and I was able to make one of my favorite shots of all times!
