Dawn is a particular time of day, perhaps the most peculiar. It is the transition from night to day, from darkness to light. It is a continuous rebirth. Unlike sunset, that everyone has the opportunity to appreciate, dawn requires an additional sacrifice which for many is prohibitive. At our latitudes seeing the sunrise in June means getting up before 5 am. Photography, which lives of light, at dawn can provide an almost magical interpretation of the atmosphere that can be breathe in.
The light; dawn light is particularly charged and complicated. It turns, within minutes, from being a diffused and barely enough one, to a grazing blade of light charged with exploding colors. The color; the light of dawn is warm and enveloping, turns the pitch black of the night sky into purple and pink. The clouds, in a few minutes, may pass from a dark purple to a more delicate pink or to the most violent and warm orange.
Dawn is different from dusk because then night loads vegetation and insects with moisture, wildlife wakes up after an overnight fast and wanders in search of food.
The bugs, still cold because of the just passed night, must wait for the sun to warm their hemolymph and dry their wings to be able to fly away.
These moments are pure poetry and magic for a nature photographer. Moving between the vegetation loaded of dew, watch the tiniest details in nature that is awakening are a source of endless inspiration.
Obviously it can’t all be reduced to photography, dawn is charged with scents and sounds that, during the day or even just a few hours after sunrise, simply vanish. The most trivial shapes, the simplest flowers assume a different perspective enhanced by dew and morning light.
Photographing means stop and admire every tiniest detail or nuance of color and at the same time knowing how to exploit it to capture a small fraction of time. The magic is intense and brief, but it rewards with genuine emotions those who will have had the strength and the perseverance to arise while the stars will still be shining in the sky, go out and waiting silently for the rise of our star.
