How often do I see people arriving at a great site about the time I’m packing up and heading back? It happened again this morning. I was photographing the West Temple and Alter of Sacrifice from half way up the tunnel road. Granted, I get to a site a little on the early side. The 45 minutes before sunrise rule gets stretched a little. I like to arrive while the stars are still out. Why? I just like the quite time.
But the real action does start 45 minutes before sunrise and goes for a half hour after the sun is up, maybe 45 minutes on a good morning. Before the sun comes up you may be treated to the mysterious alpenglow if you’re fortunate enough. This is when the east facing faces begin to glow as if from a fire within. There’s really nothing quite like it.
This photograph was taken 25 minutes before sunrise.
Then there’s first light. This is another magical time when the first rays of the sun strike the peak. The light is still soft but now it is very warm. This light lasts for maybe three minutes. This is the beginning of the peak of the golden hour. In truth, the golden hour isn’t anywhere close to an hour.
This image was taken two minutes after sunrise.
The morning light says really warm for about ten or fifteen minutes before it starts to fade to the daylight we are accustomed to. Sometimes it lasts a little longer but an hour – no way.
So a half hour after sunrise I’m usually packing everything up and heading down for breakfast. And I’m surprised at how many people are just pulling up, setting up their tripods and mounting their cameras. If only they knew, I’d have more company out there in the dark.
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