I took this photograph on December 31, 2025, at 07:58. Once again, the result reflects two fundamental elements of photography: careful planning and familiarity with one’s gear.
As mentioned in a previous publication, I used The Photographer’s Ephemeris to identify a local sunrise location that I could reach in less than twenty minutes. The weather forecast was favourable, and sunrise on that date was at 07:34. For me, it was a challenge to close the year 2025 with a beautiful sunrise.
Once on location, I set up my tripod, camera, cable release, and Leica DG wide-angle lens. From experience, I know this lens produces pleasing star effects when used at a very small aperture, f/22.
To ensure I captured the full dynamic range of the scene, I programmed the camera to take three exposures with a two-stop increment, allowing me to merge them later into an HDR image in Lightroom.
As the sun began to rise over the distant shoreline, I repositioned the tripod and refined my composition. I used the rule of thirds to compose the scene. The rising sun was set on the lower right third. The richly textured clouds occupy two-thirds of the scene over the frozen St. Lawrence River.
Once again, I was pleased with my planning and familiarity with my gear.
It is worth asking yourself whether there are interesting locations close to home where you could experience and photograph a sunrise or sunset and become familiar with your gear.
