30 Days of Dawn, day 1

I am not a morning person.

So it's with a small amount of masochism that I start my new photo project, tentatively titled 30 Days of Dawn.

The mission is to wake before the sun and go into the world and harvest a picture. For a month. Largely without coffee.

I like the idea of starting my day by being creative. And I like that I have a limited amount of time to accomplish this, because dawn is fleeting.

On Thursday, it was dark at 6:45 a.m., but nearly completely light by 6:58. I was shocked to see how many people actually arrive at work at 7 a.m.

I was not going to work Thursday, because it was my first day of work furlough, a cost-saving measure imposed by my newspaper to hopefully avoid more layoffs.

It was an appropriate day to start a new assignment. Working for myself.

1.15.09 -- Salinas, Calif.

Best of 2008

Let's start out this blog with the 10 best photos I shot for my newspaper, The Salinas Californian, in 2008:

Trevor John, 5, of Prunedale, winner of the Best-Dressed Cowboy award, takes aim July 15 before the annual Kiddie Kapers parade in Oldtown Salinas.

People line up Jan. 22 along Alisal Street in Salinas to see Hillary Clinton speak at Hartnell College.

Alisal goalkeeper Alex Amezcua jumps for a ball during warmups Feb. 13 for the first round of the Central Coast Section Div. I playoffs against visiting Fremont of Sunnyvale.

Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue, at podium, speaks during a press conference April 8 at the Monterey County Administration building on tax sharing between the county and the City of Salinas.

Frank Herrera does a backflip after getting his diploma June 12 during North Salinas High School's graduation at the Salinas Sports Complex.

Alec Massa, 7, splashes down at the end of the water slide June 17 at Sonworld Adventure Park Bible camp at Cypress Community Church.

Sid Turner, battalion chief with the Salinas Fire Department, talks to the media about a fire Jan. 2 at Flor de Salinas condominiums on West Laurel Drive.

Robin Dodd, 20, of Salinas, bikes March 25 on Goat Trail in the Bureau of Land Management's Fort Ord Public Lands.

Emergency personnel attend to a shooting victim Sept. 4 on the driveway of fire station no. 1 on West Alisal Street. The drive-by shooting occurred blocks away, but the injured occupants of the car drove themselves to the fire station to get medical help.

An old pool in the former Fort Ord, Ninth Street, April 1.