I awoke to the soft tapping sound of rain falling outside my open bedroom window. I could feel the cold air rushing into my room, reminding me of the cold mornings of this past winter. It was well before sunrise and the conditions were not looking great. If I’ve learned anything over the years of taking photos, it's that you should never let the weather deter you from getting out with the camera. So with this in the back of my mind, I gathered my gear, changed into my hiking clothes, and headed out to one of my favorite local locations.

I spent quite a bit of time wandering the woods in search of whatever I could find that was interesting. Eventually, I lost track of time and realized I had wandered a lot farther than I had planned. I got lost in the textures and colors of the wet, saturated tree bark. After some more time passed, I decided to check one of my go-to spots for birds. 

On my arrival, I was disappointed to see there were not many birds flying about, so I stood and waited to see if any birds would show up. After 20 minutes or so of waiting a couple of red-winged blackbirds showed up to say hello. One of these birds was kind enough to sit perched on top of a dead standing tree not far from where I was standing. Immediately my instincts told me to start taking silhouettes of this bird.

This friendly bird sat on this tree for a good 5 minutes allowing me plenty of time to get the exposure I was after. While the bird sat still, the clouds in the sky began to reveal the dark and rich textures as the sun began to break through the thick sky. Everything seemed to align in those few minutes for me to capture a photo I’m proud of. 

This morning of photography on a day that started out so gray and grim proves you should never let poor weather stop you from photographing. You just never know what is out there for you to capture.