As a landscape photographer you have to get up early in order to capture the beautiful sunrise light. For me this moment is unique and it gives me a special feeling when I’m up there photographing the sunrise when everyone else is still sleeping. But no matter how many times I woke up early, it never gets easier.
There are moments when, as a landscape photographer you have to walk through the forest or on mountain trails during the night in order to get to the location where you want to photograph the sunrise and this is not a comfortable thing to do for everyone. For this particular sunrise I had to hike about 40 minutes through the forest in a location that I know very well: this can be a good tip. Don’t go through the dark into the forest on trails you’ve never been on: scout the location first.
Once I reached the sunrise location I have enough time to establish my point from where I’m going to take the photo. You’ll have to arrive early with at least 40 minutes before the sunrise. The reason for that is to have time to prepare your photo gear and compositions and to capture that beautiful light in the clouds that happens with about 20-30 minutes before the actual sunrise.
In this case there were no clouds in the sky so I had to do my best at the blue hour. Then I was impressed with how the light was shining over an area of the valley. Sometimes it’s best to use your wide lens and have a strong foreground element and sometimes it’s best to use a telephoto lens to capture details in the distance. Of course that I’m always editing my photos using Lightroom for better results.
A quick tip would be to pay attention to the way the light shines on different areas. Sometimes, during sunrises you can isolate different elements because of the light.
After photographing the sunrise I went through the forest to a beautiful panoramic spot where you can see the entire Bicaz Gorge road. You basically looking down from about 984 feet and it’s pretty impressive.
Photographing sunrises can be an uplifting experience for a landscape photographer. It can make you better not only as a photographer but as a person. Learning to deal with the darkness and confront your fears of walking through the forest at night can help you as a person to evolve. Enjoy!