Friends of mine from Santa Rosa and the photo club here had often told me about The Laguna Santa Rosa – and I had seen wonderful pictures from it when I judged at the club. Now that I had moved to Santa Rosa, I was determined to experience it for myself. Yet time, schedules, wrong weather conditions when I was available, etc., precluded me from doing that for the past year. So here it was, Christmas Eve morning, and yet the conditions were aligning to be ‘just right’ – you need a certain water level depth, you near clear cold night with the potential for fog and mist on the water, etc., and this was the morning that looked like it just might be great! When I arrived, there were already three people there photographing – so they too had hoped it would be great. But the fog I drove through somehow had not moved in over the water and the predawn light was pretty but still lacking the potential for the drama that the sun breaking through the clouds could create. It was very pretty nonetheless – and none of us left because of that  – and there was still hope that the fog might move in. It did, and while it was a little too thick to let the light shine through, it simplified the scene and isolated this graceful tree from an otherwise busy background. It was to me a peaceful, tranquil scene, and it became a black and white world in the foggy light. Of all the images I made that morning, this was my ‘gift’ – a reminder that in all the chaos that the holiday season can bring, you can still find tranquility.

Hope your holidays are going great,  and thanks for visiting!