Grapevine Lake: December 15, 2015

Didn't expect to shoot today. Then my phone buzzed at 3:49 this afternoon with a message from my buddy and fellow Flower Mound nature photographer Phil Plank saying that Grapevine Lake "is glass this afternoon."

I hemmed. I hawed. I hustled home, changed into jeans, grabbed my gear, and hopped into my car to head to the lake!

By 5:10 I'd found my spot just west of the entrance to Murrell Park.  With not a hint of breeze the lake's surface was, indeed, glass.  And the lake was still well above it's normal level, resulting in water where none normally would be.

I re-composed in portrait orientation to better focus on the strong diagonal line created by the reflections of the dead tree tops.

Back to landscape as the sun continued to sink toward the horizon and orange began to join the yellow and blue already in the sky.  Notice the subtle sparkle off leaves floating on the surface in the lower left.

Shift spots.  Switch camera orientation back to portrait again.  Adjust the polarizing filter.  Breathe.  Step back from the camera to take in the scene with my eyes rather than through the viewfinder.  Click the remote.

Just 15 minutes after my first shot, the show was over.  The sun was now below the horizon, and the colors briefly intensified before beginning the fade into twilight.

The moral of the story?  Make sure your photographer friends know how to get a hold of you in an emergency like this one!