I took this photograph last March at 7:51 a.m. in Montreal, at Plage de l’Est.
Montreal is a big city. However, I found many places free of visual distractions that are appropriate for capturing sunrises and sunsets.
Before leaving home, I checked the Photographer’s Ephemeris app to confirm that the location was appropriate for capturing the sunrise, which would occur at 7:06 a.m. The weather forecasts were good. This spot is a 17-minute drive from home.
At the location, I installed my tripod and camera with my gorgeous Leica DG lens, which produces beautiful star effects when set to a very small aperture (f/22). I set my camera to bracket three shots with a 2-stop increment between each to capture the scene’s huge dynamic range. In post-processing, I would create an HDR image.
When the sun was over the distant horizon, I moved my tripod near the tree. I composed the image to have the branch frame the upper part of the scene.
At 7:51 a.m., when the sun and its twin were clearly visible, I used my cable release to trigger the shutter.
Once again, planning and gear familiarity paid off!
