As summer quickly approaches, there are pros and cons to shooting sunrise. Big pro is it's warmer out. Even before daybreak you may only need a light jacket, which makes getting up in the dark much easier compared to when it's below freezing outside. By far the biggest con is the days are getting longer, and the sun is rising earlier. It's not even midsummer and already sunrise is at 5:30am. For those of us not inclined to the early bird routine, it can take some serious motivation to get up that early and hope mother nature cooperates with beautiful light for shooting.
But not long ago I did just that, I got up early for a morning shoot (not quite sunrise, but I was still at the beach by 7am). I set up with my seascape kit and tripod, preparing with heavy Neutral Density filters for some longer exposures. There was a low hanging layer of clouds lingering from some weather the day before, but the horizon was clear and the sun was warm. I was watching the waves roll up along East Beach in Charlestown and I found myself entirely in my element, photographing panning abstracts and playing with the varying light.
Back home to download and have lunch... and by 2pm the breeze was almost entirely gone and I went to Scarborough Beach for a quick drone flight with my 3DR Solo and GoPro. The haze had moved back in, providing a slight overcast light, but it made for some wonderful colors in the water. A lot of the time the water will look greenish from the underlying sand being kicked up in the shallows, but with this light it all was a beautiful turquoise. I played with the shapes patterns of the white wash before heading home to browse through my new treasure trove of frames.
See more and order prints under the Abstract Gallery
But not long ago I did just that, I got up early for a morning shoot (not quite sunrise, but I was still at the beach by 7am). I set up with my seascape kit and tripod, preparing with heavy Neutral Density filters for some longer exposures. There was a low hanging layer of clouds lingering from some weather the day before, but the horizon was clear and the sun was warm. I was watching the waves roll up along East Beach in Charlestown and I found myself entirely in my element, photographing panning abstracts and playing with the varying light.
Back home to download and have lunch... and by 2pm the breeze was almost entirely gone and I went to Scarborough Beach for a quick drone flight with my 3DR Solo and GoPro. The haze had moved back in, providing a slight overcast light, but it made for some wonderful colors in the water. A lot of the time the water will look greenish from the underlying sand being kicked up in the shallows, but with this light it all was a beautiful turquoise. I played with the shapes patterns of the white wash before heading home to browse through my new treasure trove of frames.
See more and order prints under the Abstract Gallery
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