It Doesn't Always Go Your Way

It Doesn't Always Go Your Way, originally uploaded by M. Rosenberg.

I'm posting this photo more for the story than for the shot itself. This past Saturday, I decided I would get up for sunrise and shoot the sun rising over the Philadelphia Art Museum. My first sunrise shoot ever. Unfortunately, as I was headed to the spot I thought would be best, I found out the road was closed, which meant that there was absolutely no way I could get to where I wanted to be in time. That was immediately followed by me freaking out, because I got up 5 hours too early on a Saturday only to find out my plan was foiled.

After driving around, cursing, and looking for spots to shoot from, I found this one, which turned out to be fine, except for the fact that I was standing about 20 feet over the freeway, on the top of a retainer wall, crouched in the bushes, and terrified I would fall onto the freeway below. Not the best place to be at 5 am in Philly. So I took about 3 exposures and got the hell out of there. This is one of them. Just imagine how beautiful this would have looked without the bushes or freeway in between me and the river.

I added some notes to help illustrate my story, and so you can see that it was a good plan in theory. I'm sure we all have stories like this as aspiring photographers, I just wanted to share mine. It doesn't always go your way....