Sunrise

As we move into the colder, darker part of the year, I get to see and photograph more sunrises. The location of the sun as it peeks over the horizon, the time at which it does so, the almost-constant presence of clouds -- all of those things combine to let me see mornings like I never seem to be able to during the summer.

The other morning as I was working on a last-minute blog post, my wife came down and asked if I had seen the awesome sunrise already. Since it was still quite dark when I woke up (or should say was awakened -- stupid cats) I wasn't aware that there would even be a sunrise to view that morning. She was right -- it was a nice one!

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I like it most when a sunrise contains a mixture of glowing clouds and grey or blue sky, as there was this morning:

One of my favorite things about sunrises (and sunsets) is how quickly they change. You look for just a few minutes, and although you don't notice it happening, you'll suddenly realize that blues or purples have appeared -- or disappeared:

the first photo taken this morning

a few minutes later

I really like photographs of sunrise clouds, as they look spectacular when paired with a contrasting photo. I often combine two photos on a single 4x6 print, something like this:

If you get the color combinations and subject matter right, it can be very striking. They make great homemade greeting card covers too.

Back to the sunrise though. I've mentioned before that I really only have one "window" between the trees in my backyard where I can see clouds near the horizon...

Luckily that "window" is in the perfect spot for me to enjoy these fiery morning vistas.

Sunrises are a wonderful way to start the day, and I try to see as many of them as possible throughout the winter.

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