F8 and be there has been a long time battle cry of the nature photographer.  While we don’t create all of our images at f8, it is true that you do have to be there to make the picture.   That certainly holds true when making sunrise photos.

Everyone who likes making sunrise/sunset images has  a choice as to which end of daylight to use for their pictures.  My opinion is that both are good, but given a choice I picked sunrise every time.   When I went out specifically to shoot in the afternoon and finish with a capture of the sunset, the day was over before it got started.  Nature photography was never something that I wanted to get the day over.  It was a passion and a life style.  I wanted it to last longer.  I wanted to savor every minute.  When I chose to rise early, go forth in the darkness and create a sunrise, I still had an entire day ahead of me.  On vacations and free days I often made both sunrise and sunset pictures in the same day.  Of course there are both nocturnal and diurnal animals.   Whether you are in an urban, suburban, or a country area (excluding parks and wilderness) the vast majority of all nocturnal animals are still in hiding at dusk.  Think about it.  Human activity is just reaching its peak at dusk.  Most nighttime critters are still  hiding from the humans. Only those people who are forced to (or nature photographers), are out and about at dawn. You have both daytime and nighttime critters out at that time.

I started many of my Wisconsin nature photography days with the sunrise.  I had three primary locations to kick off a day of nature photograph.  Around home I would begin with Lake Michigan.  On a day when I had to do something other than photography, I could make sunrise pix and be back home by 6:30 a.m., depending on the time of year.  If I had all day I would complete sunrise and make a 150 mile half circle in southeastern Wisconsin.  All while never getting farther than 40 miles from home.

My second spot was Wolf Lake at Bong State park.  Depending on the time of year I would follow my sunrise with some dewy insects, or birds.  My favorite days in nature photography were those in which I photographed a variety of subjects. 

My final normal location was Horicon Marsh NWR.  This is 90 miles from home.  As usual I would start my day early.  I was headed to Horicon for a day of bird and other wildlife photography.  I never saw a reason not to get there a little early and greet the sunrise with my camera.  I would start my marsh photography at a variety of Horicon locations, so my photos from one day would be quite different from those on another day. 

Nature photography and the realization that dawn was the best time of day to begin, certainly did change my life.  I gave up being the party guy.  I never regretted it and I never looked back.  I lost many a friend when I made that change but I gained back  even better friends through nature photography.

Wolf Lake/Bong State Rec. Area.

Lake Michigan.

Horicon Marsh NWR.