This is one morning from a few years back that I’ll never forget. My alarm went off long before sunrise, and by the time I made it to the kitchen for my morning coffee, it was still pitch black outside. I checked the weather on my phone, clear skies and temperatures in the low 20s.

Sitting there in a nice warm house with a hot cup of coffee sounded pretty good. Going outside into the freezing cold, not knowing if there would even be a photograph waiting for me, didn’t sound nearly as appealing.

But something kept telling me, grab your camera gear and go.

When I finally stepped outside, my Jeep was covered in heavy frost. I stood there in the cold scraping ice from the windows while the Jeep warmed up, and for a moment I wondered if this was really worth the effort. It would have been so easy to turn around, walk back inside, and call it a morning.

Instead, I loaded up my gear and headed toward Lake Dillon.

By the time I reached the shoreline in Frisco, the cold had really settled in. I bundled up, grabbed my camera gear, and made my way down to the water. My cheeks were freezing, my fingertips were getting numb, and I still had no idea whether the morning would give me anything worth photographing.

Then everything began to change.

As golden hour arrived, the sky slowly came alive with beautiful shades of pink. Cold air rolling down from the mountains met the warmer water of the lake, creating a layer of mist that drifted around the sailboats. The mountains, boats, fog, and reflections all came together in one peaceful scene.

Standing there with frozen cheeks and fingertips, watching the morning unfold through my camera, suddenly every bit of effort was worth it.

And to think, I almost stayed home.

Sometimes the hardest part of capturing a beautiful moment is simply convincing yourself to go looking for it.