A Little Tradition

I just got back from Costa Rica where I photographed a beautiful wedding.  Getting to know the couple a little better as well as their families is always a wonderful perk for me.

One tradition I have is to get up and shoot the sunrise on one of the last days that I'm at the destination.  I love photographing the sense of place, the details, everything.  I looked up what time the sunrise occurred and was very grateful for my experience photographing landscapes because I knew that I needed to be present and accounted for well before the published sunrise time.  I dragged my behind out of bed the last morning in Costa Rica, looked for scorpions in my shoes before I put them on, grabbed my camera and headed down to the beach.  I sat in quiet solitude, if you don't count the sounds of the monkeys and birds raining down on me.

For me, sunrises and sunsets are greetings from a higher power.  I like to think of them as a little wish for a good day, or a pat on the back for doing good during the day.  God and I like to connect during these usually-tranquil times (again, if you don't count the birds and monkeys in the trees).  It is a perfect time to thank the creator for my life, my family, friends and all the richness in my life that money cannot buy.  

I saw a beautiful hue in the sky, but had the feeling to wait - more is coming.  So, I waited and meditated a little.... and more came.  I could not see these clouds until the sun got right in the position it needed to to show them to me in all their rosey splendor over the Papagayo Bay.  I snapped away for a little while.

I had a little smile when right at the published sunrise time a few groups of people with enthusiast-looking camera gear scurried onto the beach with their eyes on the sky.  By this time, the best color had faded and I thought to myself, "aww, they missed the best part of the show".

More pictures from beautiful Costa Rica will be coming.  I challenge you all to exist in the moment for just a few minutes when you witness beautiful skies.  Take a minute to thank your higher-power for the bounty in your life.  In Costa Rica they have a saying, "Pura Vida", which means "Pure Life".  Indeed it is!