Madeira

We had just arrived on the Portuguese island of Madeira the evening before I took this shot and despite little sleep, the weather was looking great for a potential sunrise shot. As I do often when we travel, I laid out my gear and clothes for a silent escape in the morning so my wife could sleep a little longer. I raced along the coastal road through the numerous tunnels hoping I'd get to the beach in time as navigating Madeira's roads can be a bit of a challenge.

Having made it to the beach just in time I managed to skip and hop over the many large boulders with reasonable sleep deprived grace to frame my shot. I quickly set up the tripod but wasn't happy with my location. Then moved farther down toward the water and lowered my perspective as well. Once satisfied, I added my 10 stop ND Lee Filter and tried a few shots to see how the scene was coming together. After a few more adjustments I got this image and was glad for the peaceful morning watching the sunrise in this far away place.

Purple Mountain Majesty

Along with much of the world we’re experiencing 100+ degree temps in Colorado right now and it’s hard not to think back to cold winter mornings such as this one. This scene came together one early morning at nearby Chautauqua Park in Boulder after a big snow in March 2021.

The day before when it was dumping snow, I noticed the following morning’s forecast was for clearing skies and I immediately checked one my favorite photography apps for some sunrise beta. Sure enough, The Photographer’s Ephemeris handy Skyfire feature was showing a good probability of a colorful sunrise. So I loaded my gear into my bag and set my alarm about an hour before sunrise hoping for a gorgeous morning and was well rewarded.

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