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Early morning — City Park, Denver

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First light at the Grand Canyon.

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Yellow-purple dawn. Downtown Denver.

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Dawn in downtown Denver.

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It is easier to get up in the morning when this kind of sunrise is there to greet you.

Downtown Denver, 7:12 AM, Monday, Oct 24th

• Monday: High 82º, sunny, light breeze
• Tuesday: High 62º, rainy, moderate breeze
• Tomorrow: High 32º, 8” of snow, breezy
• Weekend: Back into the 60s and sunny.

Welcome to the Rocky Mountains.

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It’s early morning in the Napa Valley, and several hot air balloons float above the vineyards on the valley floor.

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Dawn, 6:30 AM this morning in Denver.

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Coors Field in hibernation on another beautiful autumn dawn in Denver.

It was close there for awhile this season. Toward the home stretch, the Colorado Rockies were once again charging — closing in on the Padres and the Giants for the National League West title. Unfortunately the rally fizzled, and The Rockies finished their last 10 games with a 1-9 record. Meanwhile, the Giants’ pitchers caught fire and the rest is history.

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants — 2010 World Series Winners.

The Rockies 2011 season opener is only five months away. And as every sports fan knows: next year will be a different story!

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Dawn skyline, Denver, Colorado.

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Devils Tower climb day! Here we are at the base of the tower waiting to begin the climb. Dawn is just breaking, and you can see the surrounding plains. The Belle Fourche River meanders below. This panorama is a composite of six different photos and covers about 140º. Click the photo to enlarge it.

Frank Sanders, one of our guides and the owner of Devils Tower Lodge is on the left. Next to him are Tory and Jacob two people in our climbing party.

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The morning fire of a summer daybreak. From a series of four sculptures titled, “Earth,” “Air,” “Fire,” and “Water” on bike paths along the South Platte River in downtown Denver. This is “Fire.” The artist is Nancy Lovendahl.

I could hear Strauss’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra playing in the background.

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A runner crossing Denver’s Millennium Pedestrian Bridge at daybreak.

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Morning panorama of Lake Wakatipu from the end of the pier in Queenstown, New Zealand. This is from 11 photos stitched together. Please click the photo to enlarge it.

Kiwis (New Zealanders) sleep late. Wherever we went, there was usually no one around when I was shooting early morning photos. Hmmmm – perhaps there’s a lesson here.

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Haruru Falls on the Waitangi River near the Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand.

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A boat heads out of the Auckland harbor early in the morning.