There's so much to be said about taking any particular photo. These shots were from May 6, 2016 at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Sunrise was at 6:28 a.m. You know how that is when you want to get up early at a specific time -- you barely sleep. At 5:45 a.m., I gathered my camera, my tripod, my mittens, hat, my camera remote triggers, and a headlamp, and walked out to Sunrise Point. It was cold. It was windy. I was the first there and I set up my tripod in prime real estate. Next came a Dutch couple. Then a fellow from California. Two girls camping in the park. A woman wrapped in a down sleeping bag, her hair a tangle. A young woman with her brand new Nikon. And the closer to sunrise it got, the more that arrived. We clustered around the point, talking quietly.

We talked about settings, tripods, remotes. I helped the gal with the new camera with settings so she could get a better shot. We talked about the wind. We talked about spring weather. We laughed.

It wasn't the best of all photographic sunrises since as soon as the sun peeked from behind the mountains, the clouds blocked it in. And yes, it even snowed later in the day. But the feeling of being outside that dawn. Being with others whose idea of a vacation was standing in the cold watching the sunrise. Yes, it was perfect.

What I was considering photographically, though, was how much light to let in. How much to expose the gorgeous hoodoos that filled the canyon area. How much to just let the rising sun handle that for me. You can see by the settings that I was playing. I added the time stamp for the images because I was changing things up pretty fast, unsure what I'd like the best. All shots were with the camera on the tripod with a remote trigger. As for adjustments in Lightroom -- ever so small -- a bit of exposure increase and a little saturation. But if you know me, my goal is for the image to match my eye (more than my emotion).

28mm lens, 1/25 second, f.7.1, ISO 800
6:20 a.m.

28mm lens, 1/60 second f5.6, ISO 400
6:36 a.m.

28mm lens, 1/60 second ,f5.6 ISO 400
6:37 a.m.

28mm lens 1/60 second, f7.1 ISO 250​
6:39 a.m.