There is something about watching the sun set and then getting up and watching it rise the next morning on the opposite horizon that is a bit surreal to me. Maybe it is the feeling of being so small in a giant mechanism and watching the large scale workings occur from my powerless position. Maybe it is just weird to think about living my entire life on the surface of a gigantic rotating rock. It’s kind of like being on a spinning carnival ride. At least you get a regular change of scenery in the sky.
Well enough of that silliness. I got up to take some fantastic sunrise photos. My original target was the Mule Ears area, but I ended up at this desert overlook. It was cold, windy, and the few clouds that showed up refused to gather any color. No fantastic sunrise photos were taken, but the sun did rise and a new day began.
As soon as the sun rose, I turned around and started focusing my attention on the desert mountains behind me. I had the notion that these mountains would catch the first rays of sun quite nicely and I might get a few good photos. And indeed the mountains began with an almost magenta color which transitioned to gold.
Just a few precious minutes from when the sun light crests the eastern horizon until it gets high and bright enough to lose the deeper warm tones is all you have to compose and take the photos. The photos below were taken less than a minute apart and you can see a big difference it their colors.
The golden light stays around for a while but it’s not long before it is white light and the mountains fade back to brown and tan. And as the sun rises, the shadows that define the texture of the mountains depart and they lose a bit of definition.
It was time to start my long drive back home.
Jason Frels 
What do you mean, no fantastic sunrise photo? I love the deep orange your camera captured in the photo that shows the sun barely peeking over the horizon.
It seems to me that the early morning and late-afternoon hours seem to be the best for taking photos. The colors seem to be more vivid, and you get more shadows, which add dimension and character to a shot.
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Agreed, it’s all to do with the angle of the light. ( I think that it’s also why you get better pictures of the moon when it’s half full rather than when it’s completely full )
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I don’t shoot the moon often, so I wasn’t aware of that. That’s something to keep in mind, in the future.
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I have seen somewhere an image made by combining images taken over the phase of the moon so that it is all deeply textured like near the horizon.
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I mostly include the photo of the sun peeking over the horizon to match the sunset photo from my previous blog post. But I am glad that it was somewhat appealing.
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“Somewhat?” I like it a lot.
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Well, I looked at it again and now I see a spot on the lens that I didn’t clean up in Lightroom.
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Oh really? Well hell, I thought there was something wrong with that photo. 😉
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You tell him! I think his mind may be “out of whack” to say “somewhat!”
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I may be out of whack, but you may be off your rocker.
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Pftt!! 🙂
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Instead of whacking his camera, he needs to whack his head.
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That may knock some sense into him, eh! 🙂
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There may be too much sense in me already; from drinking all the black coffee.
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It might adjust his F-stop, anyway.
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I shutter to think about it.
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I think you’d way outdo me in photography puns, given your depth in the field.
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Yes, he probably would outdo you so No Need to try! Wouldn’t want you to strain your brain. 🙂
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I think I could stay focused okay, but I’m not sure how well I’d handle the exposure to his flash of ingenious puns.
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I guess I could try to tell-a-photo pun.
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I see you’re zooming right along with the puns.
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Oh help! LOL!
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…mmm..!
“Ingenious”? “No comment!”
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I love these, you really do have a keen eye for what and where you take your photos. These are so beautiful, I love the mountains, they look so majestic.
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Thanks. It means my morning wasn’t completely wasted.
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Oh come on, you never waste any time when you capture such beauty of nature 😉
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Well, I went out last night and had a very nice sunset, so sometimes I get lucky too.
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Gorgeous pics! Especially the second sunrise picture! You have captured a lot of beauty in these pics, Love the deeper blue shade of the sky in the last picture.
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The sky really gets blue in the daytime when it is so dry and clear.
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So thats not no special touch up photo magic, the sky really is that blue?
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I didn’t even edit the last photo. It is just a parting shot to show where I have been.
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Beautiful! Especially today when its gray skies here.
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there is something magical about a sunrise and a sunset, which your photos capture so well…
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Thanks, it is the prettiest time of day
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I agree…
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Very beautiful pictures ❤️
Nature is great 💝
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