"Smoky Sunrise"

As fires burn near Loveland, Colorado the eastern skies fill with smoke. When the sun rises through this smoke it casts almost no light on anything around me. No warm light falls on the mountains, the tundra grass or on the beautiful rocks surrounding me. Yet the smoke does enable me to look directly at the sun and easily photograph it without the contrast being too great for the camera. It is a strange feel to be able to look directly at the sun and yet not feel the heat of its rays.