My sunrise time at Bosque del Apache on my visit five years earlier had honestly been a little disappointing. I saw almost no cranes, and the one flock of geese I came across was a little too far away and at a poor angle to the light to get truly dramatic pictures. I was hoping for better this time.
My first instinct was to head right back to where I had left off the night before since I had seen Sandhill Cranes apparently bedding down for the night there. Even in the dim predawn light I could tell I'd made the right choice, as the pond had both cranes and geese in abundance.
The cranes began departing before the sun had risen, leaving in small groups.
Standing on the west side of the pond as I was, silhouettes were the order of the morning.
Blast-offs are always enthralling. The most interesting aspect of the geese's departure was that it didn't build gradually as I'd expected. As if an alarm inaudible to humans had gone off, the flock rose en masse. Also interestingly, they didn't really go anywhere. They just milled about in the sky for a bit before landing right back on the same pond. Go figure.
Color is mostly in the clouds, and there were at least a few that took on a nice cotton candy hue as sunrise drew closer.
Tough choice on the right composition. This portrait orientation doesn't have the vast expanse of empty blue sky that the landscape version does, but it also doesn't include any birds. Still probably the one I prefer of the two.
The moment of sunrise itself was magical as it almost always is. Just an experience that always makes me glad to be alive.
Even with the earlier blast-off some geese still decided to fly around a bit. More opportunities for in-flight silhouettes for me! I took a chance following this small group until the just-risen sun nearly blinded me with its brightness. But given the shot I was able to get it, I'd say it was totally worth it.
I decided to keep shooting straight into the sun, really enjoying the full effect of golden hour.
This particular goose was wonderfully stationary, anchoring both my wide and close shots of the scene. I loved the shots I was getting so much I literally jumped up and down and giggled with glee. Not too many things in life can elicit that sort of a reaction from me, which is why I still love nature photography so much.
As the sun continued to rise and the gold faded, beautiful reflections became visible on the mirror-still surface of the pond.
I caught sight of a Bald Eagle perched on a tree a good distance away, and wasn't able to get any decent shots of it. But I did take some rare telephoto lens landscape shots that turned out pretty well.
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