The Bonus Sunrise

I love watching the full moon. I have many photographs of the full moon rising in picturesque locations. A couple of times I’ve made myself get out of bed to watch the full moon setting. This involves setting my alarm clock so it’s less appealing. Probably why I only have a couple of these shots compared to the many I have of the moon rising.

Scott and I were watching the moon rise a few years ago and there were these wispy clouds on the western horizon creating wonderful pink streaks in the sky. I checked my weather ap and it looked like the clouds would still be there in the morning.

I was already planning to photograph the moon setting, but decided to arrive a little earlier just in case the sunrise was also something worthy of photographing. So being the end of June I set my alarm for….3:50 AM. Yes 3:50.

I originally wanted to arrive at the location by 5:15 AM which would give me 30 minutes to photograph the moon. 5:15 AM is also when the sunrises, so if I could arrive 20-30 minutes earlier at 4:45 AM I would have the opportunity to photograph both.

When I woke up, I peeked out the window and the sky was already beginning to turn pink. This made it much easier to get myself ready and out the door.

I parked and grabbed my gear. I could see the full moon in the sky, but I knew I would have time to photograph that later when it was lower in the sky. I found a location that looked promising and watched as magenta streaks grew and filled the sky. It was one of the most spectacular sunrises I had ever seen. Definitely worth the 30 minutes of sleep I gave up.

After the sun was up and the color dissipated, there was still the full moon low on the horizon waiting for me. I took several shots, still buzzing from the gorgeous sunrise I had just witnessed.

On to the next adventure!