It’s closing in fast on the summer equinox. But, sure I can get up for that 5:37 sunrise, right? Oh wait, the best stuff starts about 45 minutes before sunrise. I can get up for that 5:00 blue hour, right? Oh, wait, the good stuff is a 20 minute drive down a winding, dark gravel road. I can get up at 4:30am for some blue hour and sunrise photography, right?
Well, when you’re at the trailer in the heart of cottage country and it’s at the leading edge of summer, the urge on Saturday night is to drink more than a few beers around the campfire. However, if you pass on those alcoholic beverages, it is actually possible to get up at 4:30 for some photography. You have to sneak out the trailer so as not to wake the kids and drive slowly through the silent trailer park with your headlights off as to not wake up any of the neighbours. But, it is possible.
And, I did it this past weekend. I was able to get some shots after sunset on the Saturday night in Bobcaygeon, Ontario on Sturgeon Lake and was able to get the Sunday morning shots, isolated on a bridge in the forest with no sign of human life for the two hours I was there. There may not have been human life but there was life. Fish jumping. All kinds of waterfowl starting their day. A fox trotting down the road. A large tree limb crashing to the ground in the nearby forest, possibly aided by a large animal of some kind.
Below are some of the photos I was able to capture, along with a short time lapse video of that Sunday morning sunrise. For full-size, high resolution versions for any of the photos in the image gallery, simply click on the individual pictures. See below for a bit more detail.
Kawarthas Blue Hour Image Gallery
Photo Descriptions
I’m not going to go into heavy detail but, let’s start from the upper left and go left to right from top to bottom. The first image is looking out onto Sturgeon Lake from the piece of land that sits between the locks of the Trent Severn Waterway and the flow control dam in Bobcaygeon. The second image is actually from the dam. The third and fifth photos are of the locks while the fourth is from that same piece of land as the first image.
The sixth photo, 2nd row, third from the left, is taken from a small bridge that crosses Nogies Creek, northeast of Bobcaygeon, officially in the town of Trent Lakes. The gravel road that it is taken from runs from highway 36, going north and ending at Bass Lake. Photos eight and nine are taken from the same location. The seventh photo was taken near sunset at Bass Lake beach on what was a very stormy, rainy, overcast night. Luckily, there was some slight holes in the cloud cover to allow a bit of late day light through.
Nogies Creek Sunrise Time Lapse Video
The video below was taken from the same location as a few of the images above. The location is along Nogies Creek on the Bass Lake Road. There road is quite twisting and, after traveling it several times over the past few years, I was quite surprised that the sun was coming up from the direction it was. My bearings were so off, I thought that was west…
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