Nikon D700, Nikon 80-200 mm ƒ2.8 lens, ƒ11, ISO 200, 3.0 seconds, 200mm.
–Purchase Print–
It had been a few weeks since I got myself up for a pre-dawn landscape photography shoot. I think the last I got up early was the night we spent at Mammoth Lakes, California, what is now a few weeks back (see blog post at Sierra Sunrise, Mammoth Lakes, California, 2016). Pure laziness on my part (plus work gets in the way).
On the previous day, I had scouted this site and realized that on or around the Summer solstice, the sun would rise very close to Mount Baker in the distance. Note for next year.
Nikon D700, Nikon 80-200 mm ƒ2.8 lens, ƒ11, ISO 200, 3.0 seconds, 120mm.
–Purchase Print–
I arrived at the water access at the end of Borgman Road on North Whidbey Island near Oak Harbor, Washington at first light. The access to the beach is limited to a 40 foot wide easement. The incoming tidal waters of Skagit Bay were calm, the skies were clear and first light of the morning created a silhouette of Mount Baker the North Cascades to the east. I set up my camera and captured multiple variations of the scene before me as the morning skies to the easy became brighter. In between images, I stood in awe of the view before me. How could one say there is no God. It was a beautiful morning indeed.
Nikon D700, Nikon 80-200 mm ƒ2.8 lens, ƒ16, ISO 200, 5.0 seconds, 185mm.
–Purchase Print–
The azimuth of the sunrise for this day placed it well South of Mount Baker, but close enough to include in the frame. Better timing on my part would have had me at this scene around the time of the Summer solstice. Per the TPE app (The Photographer’s Ephemeris), sunrise was scheduled for 5:32 AM, and because of the height of the Cascade Mountains, the actual sunrise from this site was 5:41 AM.
Nikon D700, Nikon 80-200 mm ƒ2.8 lens, ƒ22, ISO 200, 1/30 second, 92mm.
–Purchase Print–
The Skagit Bay was quiet all morning long, until of course when the sun was about to rise over the Cascades. I heard a boat coming my way. As luck would have it, the boat was in my frame exactly as the sun broke over the mountains. I had to wait a moment for the wake to clear to get the best photos I could immediately after.
Within minutes the sun was completely above the horizon. I continued to shoot a few more photos of the sunrise light. By then, the tide had come in a few feet and I had to move my tripod further up onto shore.
With the exception of when the sun broke over the horizon, the scene in the pre-dawn light was very monochromatic in color. I felt my interpretation of the scene would be best expressed in black and white photographs.
The Borgman Road access isn’t a large area to visit, there’s only room for a few vehicles to park and no place to really turn your car around. It does give nice views of the Cascade Mountains, Mount Baker and Skagit Bay.
Part of my Pacific Northwest / Washington State black and white landscape photography series.
