Edges of the Day
What are the best times for photography? Often, it’s the “edges of the day.”
The morning edge is the 45 minutes before and the 45 minutes after sunrise. The evening edge is the 45 minutes before and the 45 minutes after sunset.
When the sun is at a low angle, sunlight travels through a lot more atmosphere. This softens and reduces the intensity of the light. The absence of harsh shadow flatters most subjects.
And when light travels longer distances through the atmosphere, the blues are filtered out, resulting in warm, golden colors. Those inviting reds and yellows command your eyes’ attention.
Finally, the low angle of the light makes for long shadows that add depth and dimension.
When the sun is just below the horizon, it bathes the landscape with gorgeous soft, diffused blues and lavenders.
Mirrored Times?
You’d think that sunrise and sunset are mirror images of each other for photographers. But are they?
One obvious difference is that mornings start in darkness. You need a flashlight to find your way to your location.
Unless you’ve thoroughly scouted the day before, locating a promising composition in the dark is difficult. Almost always, you need to scout the day before and memorize or GPS tag your pre-dawn location.
And then there’s getting up in the morning. I’m still suffering from years of 6:30 am physician meetings. And don’t get me started on the orthopedic docs who wanted to meet at 6 am.
Setting up for sunset is easier. You’re awake and compositions are easier to locate.
But sunset shooting is often more crowded due to the added difficulties of sunrise photography.
Despite the difficulties, sunrise shooting increases the chances of enjoying the scene without crowds. And sunrise also offers the possibility of unique atmospheric conditions like fog or frost.
The Shot
Two years ago, I was with friend and fellow photographer Sherry Snyder at the Morton Arboretum. We were the first in line to enter when it opened at sunrise on a crisp, fall morning.
We hurried to the water as fog was drifting through the trees. I captured this image before the sun rose high enough to burn off the enchanting fog.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus