Sunrise on Crater Lake

During the months of March—May, when many different wildflowers are blooming in Southwest Oklahoma, the wind is blowing, too, making macro photography difficult!  Couple that with the fact I only get into the field on weekends and getting good images of these early Spring wildflowers can be almost impossible.  What I wish for is a Saturday morning weather forecast that it won’t be raining and the wind velocity range will not exceed 1—2 mph.  A wish like that in Southwest Oklahoma will draw questionable looks from the natives!  It isn’t the rain part, but the low wind velocity that gets the attention.  About the only time you can find that calm a breeze is sunrise or sunset.  And that doesn’t happen everyday for sure, let alone on Saturday morning.  Everybody knows the best weather conditions for enjoying your favorite pastime are during the week when you’re working.  Friday night’s forecast for Saturday did not make my wish come true, but it wasn’t far off.  At 7:00 AM, a little bit after sunrise, it was something like 70% cloud cover, 30% chance of rain, and a 4 mph SW wind.  Well, that’s about as good as I’m ever going to get, so I put everything together Friday night before I went to bed.

I hate the sound of my alarm clock regardless of the time, but at 5:15 am on Saturday morning it’s a lot more than annoying.  Sunrise would be at 6:30 am, so I forced myself to get up after I had hit the snooze button twice.  I had gotten the coffee ready the night before, so all I had to do was hit the button to get it going.  A few minutes later, as I was getting my daily medications together, the wonderful smell of fresh brewing coffee came wafting through the air.  My clothes were already laid out, so all I had to do was rub a “Deep Woods Off” soaked towelette over my bare legs, arms, neck, and shoulders and finish getting dressed.  I really do hate Deet, but not as bad as I hate ticks and they must be the most abundant form of wildlife on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  Since that was where I was heading and most of my time would be stretched out prone on the ground, I had to just buck-up and take it.

Finally dressed, cup of coffee under my belt, camera gear, thermos of coffee, and bottles of water loaded in my 1993 Toy truck, I’m off to the WMWR.  Well, I have to make a quick stop by McDonald’s at 31st and Cache Road for a “sausage and egg biscuit, but then it’s up 38th to Roger’s Lane then westbound and down.  Yahoo!

Heading west on Quanah Parker Trailway, eating my biscuit, sipping hot coffee, and the fresh morning air filling the cab through the driver side window lowered about six inches, I can’t help thinking, “Life is good and I am Blessed!”  In less than 20 minutes I’ll be driving across the cattle guards that stretch across Hwy. 115, north of Cache.  Using this entrance onto the Refuge was a choice I made only after noticing the day was well into Civil Twilight and the surrounding pastures and the low hanging heavy cloud cover were becoming easier to see in the increasing light of day.  It was only then that the idea of possibly capturing an interesting sunrise surfaced.  I thought there just might be a chance of the sun showing itself just as it climbed above the horizon.  In Southwest Oklahoma a view of the horizon is one of the easiest views to position yourself for; finding something to use for an interesting foreground is not!  As I turned north onto Hwy. 115, I began to glance every few seconds to the east checking the sky for the rising sun’s progress and also considering every hill, tree, and fence post as a foreground possibility.  I’ve done this so many times before knowing I wouldn’t find anything, but still trying thinking maybe I would notice something, this time, I’d never seen before.

“Brrmp, Brrmp”, was the sound the tires made crossing the cattle guard as I entered the WMWR.  By this time I was certain the sun would be on the verge of topping the horizon, if it hadn’t already.  I also knew the first chance I would have to tell for sure wouldn’t be until I reached Crater Lake.  I always respect the 45 mph speed limit on the Refuge, so I just had to control the butterflies of anticipation and relax.  I swivel-headed from side to peering into the darkness for glimpses of elk, bison, deer, turkey, or maybe even a coyote or wild pig.  Even though it would be too dark to take any decent pictures, I still look every time because I’m fascinated by all living thing on the Refuge and I’ve seen them all, many times before, along this same stretch of highway.  Even though I had restrained my urge to speed ahead, I was not able to curb an eagerness to scan the eastern horizon currently hidden by granite hills.  I knew if there was any chance to include the sunrise in an image, it would be at Crater Lake.  I also knew the sun would rise at 60° ENE because I had checked last night.  Finally the hills ended and the turnoff to Crater Lake was just ahead.  I could see an orange glow on the eastern horizon and I knew dawn was ready to proclaim a new day!  I was going to have to move quickly, my options were limited,  one, maybe two chances were all I’d get, but I was ready for “the first thing” this morning.

HDR photograph using 3 exposures (-2, 0, +2).  Sony A700, Carl Zeiss  16-80 f3.5-4.5 ZA (16mm, f22, 1/40s), Manfrotto 055XPROB w/3030 head, 1000s remote release cable.