I was sorting thought some photos I took last spring when I came across a set I took one morning at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, MD. As I looked at them – I realized how the light and sunrise changed in a brief thirty minutes.

The photos were all taken on April 19th between 5 and 5:30 AM. I was photographing from the side of the road along MD Rt 335 just before it crosses over Gum Swamp. My tripod was basicly in the same place for all the photos – I did move it around a little bit. In addition, I changed lenses a few times and zoomed in and out. Sunrise was at 5:22 AM that morning.

Here are the photos showing the progression of the sunrise on April 19 at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

Blackwater 5 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Blackwater 5:05 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Blackwater 5:13 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Blackwater 5:20 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Blackwater 5:23 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

Blackwater 5:30 AM (c) 2008 Patty Hankins

These are really quick edits on the photos. I’m still trying to decide which ones I should do detailed editing and make prints of.

The chance to see sunrises like this makes it pretty easy to get up in the morning and head out with my camera.