The Story Behind the Image; Dawn of the New Millennium!

First Light; January 1, 2001; Poquoson, Virginia (click to enlarge)
Leica M6, 35mm f/2 Summicron Asph. lens

This is an interesting photograph.  Interesting in that the circumstances under which I made it is interesting.

I wanted to make a photograph at dawn at the turn of the century and millennium.  Since I am in southeastern Virginia, the time would not be too much later than the earliest anyone in the United States would experience dawn, which is on the top of Cadillac Mountain in Maine.

Back in the 1990s and the early 2000s, I was photographing with a Leica cameras and several prime lenses.  I had both Leica rangefinders and SLRs.  I mostly used Kodachrome, some Ektachromes when I wanted a different color palate but also on occasion, used print film for black and white as well as greater color dynamic range.  In fact, the above image was made using a negative film (I think Fujicolor Reala but I may be wrong), which had a much greater dynamic range than any slide film. There was no straightforward way, with slide or color negative film, to change color palates or even print contrast as there is with digital editing today.

So, before dawn on a cold and overcast January 1, 2001, I got out of bed, loaded up my car and I headed over to Messick Point in Poquoson, Virginia, which is on the Chesapeake Bay.  That is as far east as I could easily travel without driving an hour over to Virginia's Eastern Shore.

2001?  What? I thought the millennium started on January 1, 2000!  Nope. Most people thought the new millennium started in 2000 but, in fact, it didn't.  Think about it.  There was no year 0!  Year 1 was the first year so the first century didn't end until December 31, 100.  The second century started on January 1, 101.  Extrapolate that out to this millennium and you see what I mean.

Another from that morning. (click to enlarge)

These two images are a representative sample of the images I made that morning.  They have slightly different editing treatments as I wanted to see how they looked with different colors.  Call it artistic license.

I've looked at these images many, many times, taking time to think about that first morning at the dawn of a new millennium, our past, the world as it is now, our societies and how things are so rapidly changing, that who knows what the future brings to each and every one of us.

For example, my grandfather was born before automobiles were created and died after men walked on the moon!  Talk about change during lifetime!  My only regret was not spending more time with him asking about his life and listening to his stories.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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