Sunrises and Silhouettes, July 7, 2026

This was one of those mornings where I woke up late annoyed with myself because I missed it. Sunrise was at 5:15 AM, which means if you are a self-respecting photographer looking to capture it, you need to be set up in your well-scouted spot WAY before that. Like 4:40. Maybe even before that. I woke up at 4:35 and hadn't even thought of where I might go! After lying there for five minutes being angry at myself, I decided to go out anyway. I would miss all of the great colors, but maybe I'd catch something bathing in that sweet, sweet early light.

I drove to the closest place to my house that you can see the lake, which is a small turn-out along the road without a lot of interesting stuff around it.

The first thing I saw when I got out of my truck was how bright and orange the glow was off the windows of the medical clinic across the street. I kept thinking "a picture of a medical clinic is as good as it gets for a guy who sleeps in" while trying to find a good way to capture it. I got more and more annoyed as car after car drove through and ruined shot after shot. Then my sleepy brain had a moment; maybe you should slow your shutter down and use the cars instead of being annoyed by them.

Shutter to 1/8 of a second, aperture to f11, ISO to 400, and click. The medical clinic got more interesting.

Things were looking up! I had one sort of interesting shot in the bag and it turns out I didn't miss anything. I thought this eagle statue might be interesting as a silhouette. I think it looks pretty cool, spider webs and all.

As the sun was getting higher in the sky, I saw two kayakers paddling in the river. I spent a bunch of time on the bridge trying to find a way to capture them, but I couldn't make it happen. I gave up and kept walking until I got to the anchor statue at the Yacht Club. As I was lining this one up, I noticed the kayakers coming out of the river and heading my way, so I sat down for a bit and waited until they got a bit closer. They're fairly tiny in this shot, but I do think they add something to it. Worth the wait, I think.

The moral to the story, loyal viewers, is to get your ass out of bed. Don't lie there and pout about coulda, woulda, shoulda. Get up and do the thing even if you're late. Sometimes it works out, and even if it doesn't, time with your camera in your hand is time well spent.