Seeing the Opportunity When Life Gets in the Way

One morning, about a month ago, I was rudely awakened by a high pitch whine that quit honestly should violate the laws of physics. I knew what time it was before I ever opened my eyes.

The light filtering through the windows was just beginning to shift from black to a deep midnight blue. Then I heard Taylor stir and let out the familiar whine that has become her unofficial alarm clock.

I lay there for a moment, half asleep, negotiating with myself.

It's been cloudy the last few days, I thought. There's probably still some cloud cover this morning. That could make for a good sunrise. I could drive out to the overlook and get something different.

I reached for my phone.

4:58 a.m.

I rolled my eyes and groaned internally while Taylor let out another high pitched whine.

Let's do this.

By 5:20, Taylor and I were standing outside together, coffee in one hand, camera on a tripod watching the first light spill across the landscape as the sky in front of me turned bright orange and pink. I didn’t regret one moment of that and walked away with one of my favorite landscapes so far this year.

As photographers, it's easy to imagine that our best work will come during dedicated trips—those carefully planned mornings when the weather cooperates, the light is perfect, and we have nothing to do except make photographs.

But life has a way of interrupting even the best intentions.

For a while, I treated those early wake-up calls as an inconvenience. I'd take her outside, wonder why I wasn't still asleep, and think about how tired I'd be later in the day.

But then I started looking at those mornings differently.

Instead of rushing back inside, I began taking my camera with me.

What if these early mornings weren't an interruption? What if they were an opportunity?

An opportunity to spend time with a young dog who won't stay young for long. An opportunity to build our relationship through shared adventures. An opportunity to step outside before the rest of the world wakes up and simply be present.

So that's what we started doing.

Morning after morning, we've wandered dirt roads, explored trails close to home, and watched the landscape slowly come to life together. We've listened to songbirds greet the day, watched deer move through the sage, spotted wildlife I never expected to see, and stood quietly as first light painted the canyon walls.

Along the way, I've created some of my favorite landscape photographs to date.

Ironically, none of those images were made during a carefully planned photography outing.

They happened because life got in the way.

The circumstances may not be ideal. The timing may not be convenient. But there is often something beautiful waiting for us if we're willing to look for it.

On most mornings these days, when what I have loving come to refer to as the Taylor alarm goes off, I know exactly what it means.

Adventure is waiting.