Price Lake--and, more specifically, Boone Fork that flows into and out of the lake--was one of the places I visited frequently as a boy pursuing mountain trout with fly rod in hand. In adulthood, with the principal portion of my outdoor time now focused on photography, the lake remains a favorite spot, particularly at the beginning or the end of day. At such times, one occasionally finds the lake's surface under a glass-like calm. When planning or fortune provides such conditions, the water is very reflective.

On this July morning, I arrived at the lake well before sunrise to find an ideal photographic situation--a very quiet, still lake surface and enough clouds to provide sky color but not so many as to obscure the sun's earliest light. I had plenty of time to set up my camera and tripod, settle on a composition, and wait for the sun's first rays, peeking over the mountains behind me, to begin painting clouds on the western horizon. Nature's show progressed rapidly, but I shot an entire roll before the sun rose well above the eastern ridges and the color dissipated. This photo is the fifth shot of the roll; some of the subsequent shots are more brightly hued, but this one captures the combination of pinks and lavenders that only nature's color palette offers, and then only fleetingly. To me, the shot evokes a very peaceful, relaxed feeling, which closely mirrors my mood that particular morning.