Golden Hour, part II

In case you missed it, feel free to check out my earlier response, You can’t keep a golden hour nailed down!

So this morning after I wrote my post, knowing what time the sun would rise and intending to hit the Redbox at CVS for a copy of Monster House for our Sunday morning caramel roll & coffee time, I ran out with the phone to catch the end of blue hour and the sunrise at a place I figured would give me some nice photos – the river. I caught a jillion moments during the golden hour, while my fingers went numb in the cold and I ran to and fro, up hill and cross-highway, to catch moments in time with my trusty phone.

Next time, I’m taking a camera with me.

The golden hour lights up the Mandan side of the river and the pillars supporting the memorial bridge.

A view of Mandan as seen from the bridge walkway. I managed to get some exercise in this morning!

Under the bridge, with a little taste of solar flare.

On the left, the Bismarck WWI memorial. on the right, a piece of the old bridge on a pedestal.

After they blew up the old bridge, they put a piece of it on a pedestal by the bridge to commemorate the old bridge – I think.

Driving home from the redbox, I capured this one looking up 4th Street toward the Capitol.

The reason I came down here is because I run by it so often, but I never really stopped to look and discover. I parked the Jeep down under the bridge and explored the plaza, looking for good views. I took some blue hour photos, and got impatient waiting for the sunrise – it came at 8:18 as foretold, but it would take a little longer to crest the buildings on Main Street, so I ran up the embankment to where the bridge came off the land onto supports that carried it over the river toward Mandan, and I looked around the memorial, then went down the pathway a little to find some views downriver. Finally, I ran back down to where the Jeep was parked because – surprise surprise – the phone died! Luckily I have the car rigged up to charge my phone and I put it in airplane mode, waited it to climb a few percents, took some more pictures and that was all that! My first golden hour shoot, in the pocket!

So Mme. Ross told me next time, take her old Canon Elph with me. I think it’s a good idea but I do think I would miss the ability to touch focus the shot. What do you think, does anyone out there prefer touch focus to autofocus, and don’t even get me started on cameras with manual focus because I don’t have one!

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt.

14 comments

The Indecisive Eejit says:

October 27, 2013 at 7:06 pm

Those are awesome pics!

- Rob's Surf Report says:
  
  October 27, 2013 at 8:21 pm
  
  Thank you, I completely agree!
  
Andra Watkins says:

November 3, 2013 at 12:19 am

Mandan! All awesome photos, Rob.

- Rob's Surf Report says:
  
  November 3, 2013 at 12:22 am
  
  Thank you. 🙂
  
  Now I have to try to get the knack of monochrome.
  
  - Andra Watkins says:
    
    November 3, 2013 at 12:25 am
    
    Why? These are good.
    
    - Rob's Surf Report says:
      
      November 3, 2013 at 12:28 am
      
      Oh, it’s this week’s photo challenge: CREEPY with a black-and-white flair. They had a good post earlier this week by a photo blogger on taking photos in black and white – no, I love those photos I got, but I think tomorrow morning I’m going to find a place to take some black and whites. I took some today, but they’re not coming off as creepy.
      
      - Andra Watkins says:
        
        November 3, 2013 at 12:34 am
        
        I am in your time zone, so I can argue with you. Ha.
        
        I look forward to your B & W, though color can be just as creepy. Haunting is more what you got today, which isn’t necessarily creepy, but is maybe better??
        
        
        Rob's Surf Report says:
        
        November 3, 2013 at 12:41 am
        
        I like haunting. I feel like the Daily Post held up an example that’s hard to top. A photo caught at the right moment, a little girl reflected in glass in the mid-ground so it looks like a ghost almost in the photo. But I think I could take serious liberties with the prompt too. I almost have to.
        
        
        Andra Watkins says:
        
        November 3, 2013 at 12:44 am
        
        It’s what prompts are for, taking liberties. 🙂
        
        
        Rob's Surf Report says:
        
        November 3, 2013 at 7:39 am
        
        That’s right! 🙂
        
lifeconfusions says:

November 19, 2013 at 9:36 am

Enjoyed your photography very much Rob ! 🙂

- Rob's Surf Report says:
  
  November 19, 2013 at 11:47 am
  
  Thank you!
  
mithriluna says:

November 25, 2013 at 1:16 pm

What awesome shots! Your phone takes great images. I am impressed!

- Rob's Surf Report says:
  
  November 25, 2013 at 1:33 pm
  
  Thanks, I prefer it to purported cameras because of the touch-focus ability, I think it’s a really good deal for cameras!