Taken the morning of our first day in Big Bend, this photograph represents the virtues of "being lucky". Leaving the room early at 5:00am, researching the sunrise angles on Photographer's Ephemeris and then locating a shooting location the night before that would put me in the best spot if a nice sunrise were to occur, etc...

This was a shot that took a great deal of planning and then luck on top. But being very prepared resulted in a relatively brief moment when all that planning paid off. This is perhaps my favorite sunrise photograph of all time - just a magical moment.

Canon EOS 5D, Tamron 28-105 f/2.8, SP Aspherical LD @ 45mm, 1/160 sec @ f/7.1, ISO equiv 640, Calumet 8000 Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo G1276 Ballhead, Color Efex Pro