Sometimes it pays to wake up at the crack of dawn.  A few weeks ago, as I rose to start my day, I was greeted with this view out my window.  It was a rainy day in the Bay Area and we had low clouds.  As the sun rose over the hills east of Livermore, there was just a few seconds where the sun was above the hills and below the low cloud layer.  It created this wonderful early morning lighting effect.  A few minutes after this photo was taken, everything went back to clouds and gray.

This is one of the reasons why it kills me every time I hear a new photographer say something like “I was going to go take some photos, but it’s raining…”  You get some of the best landscape moments during rain and stormy weather.  Don’t fear the rain…just come prepared with the right gear!  🙂