I had it all figured out. It was snowing all night and the wind was supposed to abate around sunrise. I have had an image in my head of what one of my shitty photographs needed, and the conditions promised to be perfect for it. I was going back to the shack on the side of the road down from the Brockway Summit with fresh snow to catch the blue hour. Only this time, I was going to put my head lamp in it to give a soft complimentary warm orange glow to the icy blue hour. I hopped in the cabin wagon and headed through Tahoe City
on my way to the Brockway Summit. As I was driving it became clear to me that the sunrise over the lake was going to be amazing and I started to second guess myself. I started to frantically try to remember where there would be a good composition without all the crap people have put up around the lake. Then it presented itself. A row of trees with fresh snow next to the Sierra Boat Company where the Woody show is every year. I pulled over. Hopped out with the sun just starting to hit the highest peaks across the lake. I ran over to the spot and tried to make my way to frame it up. The only problem was in my haste, I forgot to put my snow shoes on, and I was now trying to post hole my way through chest deep snow drift. I would struggle, then think maybe I should go back, but then the light was coming and there were only minutes to spare. At one point I resorted to crawling and, believe it or not, rolling. I framed it up just as the sun lit the clouds and click. It took me 20 mins to make it 100ft off the road. A snow plow man, who had obviously been sitting there watching me make an ass of myself, drove by and said, “Man I was afraid you wouldn’t make it…Nice shot!”