In a Haze

EOS 6D | EF 24-105 f/4L IS @60 | 0.5s | f/14 | ISO 100

The second image from my unplanned trip to Skyline Drive early Saturday morning to capture the sunrise.

After waking up super early and not being able to get back to sleep, I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to go take pictures. So I packed up my gear and got on the road and headed to one of my favorite spots, Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Given that it was pitch dark when I arrived, I did not want to try and search too hard for a spot to shoot from, so I chose one of the overlooks that I thought would give me a good view of the sunrise. I was not disappointed with my choice.

After arriving quite a bit earlier than I had intended, I got out the car, set up my gear and waited until light began to appear on the horizon. For this particular image, I had already been out of the car for over an hour battling freezing cold temperature, some occasionally gusty wind, and constant snow flurries.

I am glad I stayed because the light from this particular sunrise, while not the most amazing on the clouds, was just absolutely amazing as it flowed over the ground. The entire landscape began to glow in shades of red, orange, and even some purple as the light tried to cut through the haze and through the mountainous landscape. What I was left with was just this great scene that I was lucky to be there to capture.

I do always struggle with shooting into the sun (any tips on methods would be appreciated!) and I made a compromise with this image as the sun was not only causing flare in most of my images but actually created its own flare through the haze in the sky. It was really something to see. So while I usually try to cut down the overexposed hot spots and anything that looks like flare, in this image, I left them both in, the overexposed sun for effect, and the sort of flare since that is how it actually appeared that morning.

Make sure you view large enough to catch the detail in the bottom right corner! And as always, enjoy!