While you were sleeping

I have always been fascinated with sunrise. In my 20's I would party till after the sun rose and be blinded by the light upon leaving the bar. I can remember watching sunrise from Grand Isle State Park and Cocoa Beach Florida. My daily commute puts me in line with pre-sunrise skies every morning, wishing I had my camera with me.

It's amazing what goes on in the 30 or more minutes between predawn and sunrise.



Recently - well actually Memorial Day - we decided to climb out of our oh-so-comfortable cocoons at 5AM to travel the ten minutes to Goose Point in Lacombe, Louisiana.

For the locals it's known as Lake Road, an extremely narrow piece of land that joins the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain with the lake.


Lake Road taken from the end

Lake Road is not paved and is just wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other. I believe it is part of the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge. On any given day you can find dozens of people parked along the road crabbing or fishing. In fact when we passed at a little after 5:30 in the morning there were several people already out there going after the early morning catch.



In the few minutes before the sun actually shows itself on the horizon the red wing blackbirds are out playing. This is one of my favorite "common" birds because of its call. There is something about the sound of a red wing blackbird that lets you know you're far away from the sounds and activity of a normal day at work or in the city. They're playful little things, too. I had fun trying to photograph them.





What I never knew until this day was how much energy it takes for this little bird to sing my favorite sound. Check out this guy.



Finally the event that we were waiting for began















The sun rises quickly and so many things are happening during this time. It's difficult to decide what to shoot!




Still singing his little heart out!


I imagine there was once a camp or a pier here




These little plants caught the rays from the sun so well they appeared to be glowing.


I didn't realize until after I looked at this picture that the plants have little purple flowers on them.


I love the texture of the marsh grass in this picture.


A marsh rose and wild morning glory


Crab boat going out on the lake to lay those crab traps to catch the best tasting crabs around!


This little guy scampered back into the bushes when we stopped to get his picture.

It was a wonderful experience and worth getting up early for. By the time we were finished it was already 7 AM and we headed out for breakfast and then more picture taking. A time well spent!