Sunrise from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine
Kathy and I joined several hundred of our closest friends this morning to be the first people in the US to see the sun. I took a bunch of photos and some of them turned out OK. But it was mostly about the experience of being there, and we were there. And yes, Kathy joined me in arising at 4am to make the trek to the top. She didn’t want to miss it any more than she wanted me to miss it. It was worth the effort, for sure! 😉
Reservations are required for sunrise, and they are limited. I managed to book mine months ago, and I was glad I did. In a perfect world I would have wished for a few clouds on the horizon. But it wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t raining, and we could actually see the sun. So it was as good as we might have hoped for!
Sunrise from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine
Early morning in Rockport Harbor in Rockport, Massachusetts
I managed to haul my carcass out the door again this morning for the second time in a row. I’ve got a number of good results but will have to process them at a later date. So much to see and do here – no time to process photos. A good problem to have!
In order to show that I did, in fact, get my self out of bed at a photographically productive hour, here are a few photos from around town this morning. Sunrise was 6:23 and I was out the door about 6:10, uncharacteristically early for me without a good reason. Fortunately I got some pretty decent results!
And yes, I did take a photograph of Mystic Pizza, although we haven’t eaten there. 😉
View of The Steamboat Inn – our lodging during our stay here – along the river in Mystic, ConnecticutThe Mystic River Highway Bridge over the Mystic River in Mystic, ConnecticutMorning in downtown Mystic, ConnecticutMorning along the river in Mystic, Connecticut
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
I’ve just finished up processing my photos from our Southwest road trip and from our recent visit to Hilton Head Island, SC. Just in time for our next adventure – we shove off again on Saturday! This will be our annual “Friends and Family Tour” as Kathy likes to call it. Other than our kids, most of what remains of our families is in Ohio or will be there for the Fourth of July. I’ve got a childhood friend who lives in western Pennsylvania, and we have friends in Wisconsin. 😉 So off we go!
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
I mentioned earlier that I only got up early on two mornings at the beach, but I chose them well. I’ve been going to Hilton Head long enough to know when the tides and times coincide to provide the pools I love to use as foreground. An added bonus is when the clouds cooperate too, as they did for me on both occasions. Sweet!
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
I found it interesting that, even though the conditions were virtually identical both mornings, the overall color cast was radically different – red the first morning and blue the second. I did minimal (for me) processing on this photos and the colors are pretty faithful albeit a bit more saturated than what I saw. I’m sure the difference in color is due to some sort of atmospherical anomaly, but I only know that it made for some purdy pitchers.
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Mornings are a lovely time on the beach. I could go out there without a camera, sit on one of the storage boxes the lifeguards use and watch the morning unfold. When the sunrise is early – around 6:15 – like it was in May and June, there are very few people out – just me, a few birds and sometimes a few dolphins. Most of the people are walking, so even if they walk through my frame, a slow shutter speed makes them blurry and sometimes invisible. There was one guy with a dog that had a light on its collar which was kind of annoying, but he thankfully stayed out of my view!
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The light on the horizon is actually a fishing boat, not the sun!Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South CarolinaSunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
When I awoke this morning at 4:50am I knew I was in for another morning on the beach. Sucks, don’t it? 😉 I was greeted by some distant lightning that I wasn’t able to capture adequately, but did get a few more pools reflecting the morning light. A little different from yesterday, but that’s why we go more than once! No promises for tomorrow, but I do have a streak going now. 🙂
Today marks the third anniversary of our retirement. I think we’ve spent our time well and look forward to many more years. We celebrated last night at one of our favorite local restaurants and look forward to a few more days on the beach.
Sunrise on the beach on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
We’ve been at the beach for a week but I hadn’t managed to drag my sorry self out of bed for sunrise – until this morning. I was well rewarded. I’m kind of picky about when I’m willing to get up – tides, weather and sunrise time play a role. I looked at the weather forecast before heading to bed last night and decided it would likely be a good chance for photos. We’ve got some clouds rolling in today with a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and overnight. Tomorrow might be a good morning too, we’ll have to see if I can motivate myself two mornings in a row. 😉
I like to photograph the moon on the night before the “full” moon because there is still enough light in the sky, and on the foreground if you have a foreground, to illuminate the landscape and provide some detail. Sometimes, like Tuesday night, the rising moon is actually more full than it will be on Wednesday night. Of course the part that gets all the press is the so-called “Supermoon.” (because now we have to name everything) which “officially” happened this morning, but the moon wasn’t visible here at that time.
According to The Photographer’s Ephemeris, the moon was at 99.65% at moonrise last night and will be at 99.49% at moonrise tonight. What does that get you? Add a couple of bucks and it gets you a cup of coffee.
Photographing the moon rising over the ocean can be kind of boring and usually works better with an interesting foreground. We have some nice trees in front of our rental condo here in Hilton Head, SC. So I was able to have my camera on the balcony while we were having dinner, and managed to take a few shots between bites and sips. 😉
Full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean at St. Augustine Beach, Florida
The full moon is technically today 2/27, although it was fuller at moonrise last night than it will be tonight. The night that the moon rises just before sunset is what I have heard referred to as the “photographer’s moon” because it rises almost-full while there is still sufficient light on the landscape to show detail.
Last night’s moon rose through a band of thick haze on the horizon into a cloudless sky, so there wasn’t a lot to be excited about. But it was still pretty, we had a nice place to watch from and it was cocktail time! I may try again tonight but moonrise coincides with dinner time so I may need to make do with one night’s photos.
White balance may be a little wonky on this but I think it is pretty true to the scene as it was presented.
I treated myself to an early morning and was rewarded with a pretty nice pre-sunrise sky. I credit Monte and his early morning excursions for the motivation to drag myself out of bed at 5:45. It was worth it! I also was able to get a nice cup of coffee in the lobby on my way back to our room. Double nice!
