Southeastern Utah and Castle Valley, approaching Moab.
Rock formation near Dewey, UT.
Left of center, Fisher Towers, framed by mesas notched by the Colorado River, on the approach to Moab from the northeast.
Castle Valley.
![The ghost of Parriott Mesa [elevation 6155'] rises behind a gnarled tree during a Castle Valley snow storm.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5005dbf284aebe9f4d09d4f5/1342788944155-YU4K8FNLPWB3SWFAEMW3/1151-5D-4002.jpg)
The ghost of Parriott Mesa [elevation 6155'] rises behind a gnarled tree during a Castle Valley snow storm.
A weak sun crests some wintry clouds.
A warm weekend in Colorado - but the signs of Autumn are all around.
Aspens at sunrise along Fern Lake Road, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Aspens along Fern Lake Road.
Looking west towards Stones Peak and Nakai Peak.
Golden morning light over Moraine Park.
Cub Lake.
Sumac along the Big Thompson River.
It's a good habit, getting up early. I did it in Japan, too. Problem was, my ability to get anywhere before the first trains started running at 5:30 or 6:00 AM made it impossible for me to catch the sunrise any time except the dead of winter.
Japan lies so far towards the eastern edge of its time zone that the sun comes up at around 4:15 AM during the summer. Even in the dead of winter, I had barely enough time to get on the train to Izu Kogen station and then race down the path to the Jyogasaki Coast before the sun rose over the island of Izu Oshima.
Living in Tokyo I never wanted or needed my own car. Getting almost anywhere in the city is convenient, safe, and not too expensive if you are willing to use the trains and do a little walking. And getting a driver's license is a hassle for Americans. Brits and Kiwis and license-holders of other favored nations that have a national permit system can apply and automatically receive a Japanese license. But because licenses in the USA are obtained within the State of residence, I guess a such reciprocity cannot be arranged, therefore US citizens must take a written and vehicular drivers test to get their Japanese license. And you can't use the so-called "International Drivers Licens" you get at triple-A if you are a resident of Japan.
So I never bothered with a car, or the time and expense of getting a Japanese driver's license.
But down the coast in Ito, a car would have made sense and would have given me a lot more flexibility to explore - especially around the edge of the light where a landscape photographer take advantage of the changing contrast and color around sunrise and sunset.
I figure the biggest secret of "daylight" landscape photography is this: If you are not in place 30 minutes before sunrise or 30 minutes before sunset, you lose.Sure, there are exceptions. But in the great majority of places, the element that really makes the scene extraordinary is the light.
Take Saturday morning, for example. Here's a shot taken at 8:08 AM at Dream Lake:
8:08 AM: Dream Lake in early morning light.
A pleasant scene. But here is a shot from about the same place, exactly one-and-a-half hours earlier:
6:38 AM: Dream Lake as the rising sun strikes the mountain backdrop.
The orange peaks against the blue sky, the reflection in the dark surface of the lake, and the deep sloping shadows framing the scene make for a much more interesting and dramatic view. All thanks to the light.
5:30 AM: Crescent moon - just a sliver.
6:26 AM: Mountain stream.
6:46 AM: The sun appears.
Dead wood along the margin of Emerald Lake, pin black-and-white.
Well, just because you missed sunrise or sunset doesn't mean all is lost: there is still a lot you can shoot any time of day. On my morning hikes, I try to get the expansive landscape shots around the "magic hour" around sunrise, then do closer-in shots after the sun is up. Macro photography especially benefits from plenty of light.
Wildflowers and downed wood.
Trees reflected.
Stream, wildflowers, and peaks.
OK, so what if I don't have my good camera gear? These beautiful summer mornings cannot be wasted. And even if I can't get a shot worth printing and hanging on the wall, I can still get the feel of the light around here, and scope out some places to go back to with the SLR and a couple of good lenses. And enjoy the peace and quiet, the beautiful light, and the delicious air.
Left the hotel at what my old friend Jerry would call "o-dark-thirty" again - about 3:15 AM I think - and got out of the car at around 4:30 and started climbing.
The trail switchbacked quite a bit. Climbing to the east, I had a chance to watch the progress of the sunrise [photo below left]. And then turning back west, a look at the mountains, with the tail lights of a few other early risers on the road in the valley bottom [photo below right].
4:28 AM: Climbing towards the sunrise.
4:34 AM: Switchbacks turn me back up the valley, towards the mountains.
Even though it is nearly pitch black and I am using a head lamp, the camera can see subtle differences in the light that my eyes cannot - if I give it a chance by using long exposure times - these are shot with the shutter open for 15 seconds.
After about an hour of climbing, I reached the crest of the hill. Too late for any pre-dawn shots - making a note to get there a half-hour earlier next time - but in time to circumambulate to the east side to catch the sun hitting the mountains over the lake:
5:36 AM: Mountains painted red by the warm morning light.
After that, taking my time to complete a lap around the lake, enjoying the air, the light, and the solitude.
5:45 AM: Old stump on the lake shore.
6:25 AM: Alpine Fireweed, Epilobium latifolium.
6:10 AM: Light spreads over the lake.
6:35 AM: A Leafy-Bracted Aster, Symphyotrichum foliaceum, hides among the grass.
Then back down the hill, and into town for a bit of breakfast!
7:15 AM: Back down the hill.