Harvest Supermoon The night before, I came to the Illinois Beach State Park to scout a location for sunrise photography and was greeted by the September Harvest Supermoon. While enjoying moon photography over Lake Michigan I did not forget about why I came. While I always like to keep an open mind and allow nature to overhaul my plans I had a shot in my mind.

Lakeshore Grass at SunriseMorning on Lake Michigan

A different type of a shot than the usual wide angle composition with enormous depth thanks to using a super wide angle lens and including a very near foreground through mid-ground all the way to a fascinating background topped off with a gorgeous sky.

No, for this morning, I had something else in mind. I wanted a simple, moody photograph without using too many gadgets. I thought I could use a clump of grass and shoot right through it against the rising sun, thus turning the blades of grass into deep dark silhouettes. Dark tones usually create a nice contrast with a colorful sky and make it stand out better.

What I got is what you can see here in the first sunrise photo. I was very happy with how close to the plan reality got me. Despite the "rules" I placed the sun right in the middle of my frame. I thought it balanced very nicely as it reflected off the surface of the lake and highlighted the slight gap between the two bunches of grass gently pushing them apart.

Illinois Beach State Park SunriseX Marks the Spot

I tried some long exposures too but was not happy with the way the grass blades were getting blurred by the rather persistent morning breeze. Instead, I went back to working the original patch of grass and trying many different angles.

I found the arrangement you can see on the right, with two long blades of grass crossing and forming an X. I moved the camera and tripod around until I was able to position the X against the rising sun.

As always, it was a wonderful morning as night turned into day. Watching the clouds float through the sky not knowing whether the sunrise would be spectacular or not visible at all. The unpredictability of it all is part of why I keep coming back. No two sunrises are alike and despite all of the planning one can do it's Mother Nature that has the last word.

Have fun!

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