A moment of greatness

Plein air painting is supposed to be an event of capturing an all inspiring moment of an ever changing environment. At times the artist has a chance to fiddle with the layout or composition as they wait for the light to come into play but basically the light changes so quickly that the reality of being true to the scene may only be valid 10-20 minutes at the most.
   In this 9"x12" oil painting "Morning moment on long lake" I had spent the 1st 30-40 minutes casually laying out the consistant values of a quiet overcast morning in hopes for the marine layer to burn off. Then the lighting considerably ramped down to an ominous darkness, held for a curious 30 seconds and opened up to this unbelievable hollywood moment of perfect light. It was so dramatic that I almost forgot why I was standing there.