June 14, 2008; Day 43.

Did you know that the Summer Solstice is a 3-stage event? I didn’t either until I started studying the Skygazer’s Almanac. Today marked stage 1: Earliest Sunrise. In Manchester, sunrise was 5:06 a.m. I had planned in advance to capture it today as my daily. To do this, I set my alarm for 3:55 and made my first shot at 4:47 a.m. At that hour, unfortunately, I’m not thinking clearly and forgot to check whether auto focus was on.

Next, I should have scouted for better location. I picked a nice, high spot from which the downtown skyline is easily visible. But the sun is rising too far from downtown to allow it and the skyline to co-mingle in the frame. Plus there’s the 10-foot chain link fence along this stretch, without a hole in it anywhere.

The sky was great for a sunrise, though. Too bad the foreground is a ho-hum roof access tower. It is possible that this will be a great spot to mark the Latest Sunrise next January, but I'll check first.

After the sunrise disappointment, I proceeded to the location you see above, which is Sewall’s Falls bridge in Concord. This Pratt thru-truss bridge was built in 1915 and is in pretty rough shape. Its still being used, and its steel-grate deck reverberates with each car that passes over it. HDR was necessary to bring the sky down and the underbelly of the approach up. The low still-golden sunlight really brings out the rust. This shot was created from 7 exposures, all at f/11. The focal length is 14mm.

Note to self...time to clean the sensor!

June 14, 2008; Day 43.

Did you know that the Summer Solstice is a 3-stage event? I didn’t either until I started studying the Skygazer’s Almanac. Today marked stage 1: Earliest Sunrise. In Manchester, sunrise was 5:06 a.m. I had planned in advance to capture it today as my daily. To do this, I set my alarm for 3:55 and made my first shot at 4:47 a.m. At that hour, unfortunately, I’m not thinking clearly and forgot to check whether auto focus was on.

Next, I should have scouted for better location. I picked a nice, high spot from which the downtown skyline is easily visible. But the sun is rising too far from downtown to allow it and the skyline to co-mingle in the frame. Plus there’s the 10-foot chain link fence along this stretch, without a hole in it anywhere.

The sky was great for a sunrise, though. Too bad the foreground is a ho-hum roof access tower. It is possible that this will be a great spot to mark the Latest Sunrise next January, but I'll check first.

After the sunrise disappointment, I proceeded to the location you see above, which is Sewall’s Falls bridge in Concord. This Pratt thru-truss bridge was built in 1915 and is in pretty rough shape. Its still being used, and its steel-grate deck reverberates with each car that passes over it. HDR was necessary to bring the sky down and the underbelly of the approach up. The low still-golden sunlight really brings out the rust. This shot was created from 7 exposures, all at f/11. The focal length is 14mm.

Note to self...time to clean the sensor!