Above the clouds

It takes a certain kind of patience — the kind that wakes before dawn, that trusts the sky to cooperate, that waits, camera in hand, for the world to arrange itself into something worth capturing.

For some moments in life don’t just happen — they are pursued.

On 11 March, with the weather playing along and the plan executed to perfection, Taiwanese Hommer Shen and his friends found themselves witnessing a spectacle most only dream of: Taipei 101, its peak slicing through a sea of clouds, bathed in the soft gold of sunrise.

The scene felt almost unreal: A building so firmly rooted in steel and stone suddenly seemed weightless, adrift in a sky of pastel gold and silver.

The image, once seen, lingers in the mind like a half-remembered dream.

For Shen and his friends, it was the result of meticulous planning — tracking weather patterns, understanding the movement of the clouds, choosing the right vantage point, and, above all, waiting.

That’s what these moments demand: waiting, hoping, and trusting that nature will grant you a glimpse of something extraordinary.

It’s more than just a photograph. It’s a reminder — of how small we are, of how vast the world can feel, and of how, sometimes, the most breathtaking beauty is reserved for those who seek it, who chase it, who are willing to wake before the world and watch as it unfolds in all its quiet, golden splendor.