How to Ensure Your Sunrise Photography Captures a Larger Visual Story
I have a confession to make about my sunrise photography. I love snapping a beautiful sunrise, but I no longer take tight shots of just the orange fireball. I learned a long time ago that most sunrises look about the same.
The only difference (and it’s a big one) is the cloud formation that may be near the sun. In fact, a great sunrise is always about the clouds and how brilliantly they light up.
Still, zooming in as much as you possibly can to frame in the sun and nearby clouds will get you only part of a particular sunrise’s story. By cropping out the rest of the environment, you’re missing so much more.
Of course, any sunrise should always be the center point of the picture, but it’s just one part of your digital canvas. What else is happening around the early light? If you can show that, then you’re capturing a more complete visual story.
My DJI Osmo 3’s Timelapse Mode
I’ve just returned from our family vacation in Delray Beach, Florida. The weather was perfect, and yes, I woke up early enough on a couple mornings to hoof it to the beach to greet the dawn.
As you may recall from my ongoing Maine sunrise photography project on the mudflats of Cape Porpoise, I’ve been focused on creating more timelapses over the past few years. I love shooting sunrise timelapses, because the fast motion reveals the complex and elegant dance of any clouds in the general sunrise zone.
So, I brought my DJI Osmo 3 gimbal camera with its easy timelapse settings to Delray Beach. And let me tell you… the Florida sunrises did not disappoint.
My Osmo’s wide-angle perspective covered much of the beach and the people who gathered early for the grand event. (As you can see in the photo, my Osmo was mounted on my little Joby tripod and tethered via Bluetooth to my iPhone’s screen.)
The Rushing Waves
In my first timelapse attempt, I was struck by the mesmerizing quick rhythm of the waves and the rush of people moving about like insects. This 20-second sunrise timelapse ran for 30 minutes.
An Hour-Long Story in 40 Seconds
The following dawn, I walked onto the beach and saw a long, dark cloud bank of the horizon, totally obscuring the path of the early sun. Undeterred, I still set up my gear knowing that cloud conditions can change quickly during a sunrise. But I decided to double my recording duration to an hour, since the sun would likely show up a little later, once it eventually rose above the clouds.
Really interesting, right? A lot can happen during an hour on a beach while the sun comes up.
Again, maintaining a wider visual perspective is my key creative choice to capturing a sunrise. Whether snapping a still or a timelapse, showing the broader environment will help you tell the more complete photographic narrative.
A Truly Magic Hour
Finally, I’ve got to acknowledge the rush of happiness that accompanies this morning activity. Whether you show up with your camera or you’re just there to experience the start of a day, the experience is hard to beat.
At home, I usually reserve the first hour of my mornings at my desk for my creative pursuits (photo editing, blog writing, AI exploration). I call it my magic hour. But getting up and outdoors to witness true magic for an hour…
That instantly fills my creative bucket.
At Home with Tech 