Sunrise Photographs and Sadness

So, this morning I was all excited and prepared to try and get a few really nice sunrise shots. I had watched the news to find out when sunrise would occur (7:22 am) and loaded up my tripod, camera and extra lens into the carpool car. The sun didn't look like it was going to be very "orangy", most likely because there were few clouds, but I didn't care. I intended to take some pictures today.

Getting out of the car, a co-worker approached me with a question about his new laptop. Remember, I'm one of the resident geeks at the company for which I work. Anyhow, as I was getting my lunch, I turned to acknowledge him and out rolls my lens case onto the parking lot. I heard a definite impact, but no crack or crunch. So, I was hoping for the best. This was my less-expensive 28-70mm AF lens, so I was happy it wasn't my camera, which has my 105mm macro attached to it.

Considering I was after a sunrise, this would be the lens I would be using. I unpacked it and didn't notice any obvious damage. After mounting the lens on my camera, I began to set up my shot and noticed the zoom ring was tighter than normal. Major sadness - I'm sure I've knocked it out of kilter and my shots with that lens look a little soft. I'm going to test it out on some close subjects without any morning haze and check it out tomorrow, during my day off.

Anyhow, I mounted my 105mm lens on my camera and began shooting away, trying not to think of my abused 20-70mm. I duplicated a few shots from the other morning, using some more refined bracketing so I could try some more HDR work. Practice makes perfect, I always say. One of my shots from this morning is attached to this entry.

Once I get the HDR shot completed, I'll post an entry. Have a wonderful day!