Pushaw Lake Sunset & Sunrise

The weather for Tuesday the 24th was in the 80’s with mild humidity, blue skies and sporadic cumulus cloudscapes; the skies stayed this way all day which is generally a good setting for sunsets. After eating supper Robin and I loaded out kayaks and headed to Pushaw Lake to watch the sunset on the water.

When we arrived the sun was still in mid-decent and the waves choppy as they always are on Pushaw; we put into a marsh area where the tops were covered in lily pads and marsh grass. As we made our way closer to Ram Island the waves grew larger, some splashing over our kayaks and into our hulls- I almost turned around and decided it was too rough to be carrying my Canon 40D with me but decided to keep going. As we approached Ram Island, two other islands came into view towards the North West, Dollar and Hardwood; I thought that this would be an interesting back drop for sunset photos so we paddled around Ram for awhile when I spotted two adult loons in the distance. I put my big lens on and paddled within 10-15′ which is something Loons normally do not allow; despite the rough waves I was able to capture two clear shots and one OK shot of a loon stretching it’s leg as well as the pair going in for a “kiss”. Robin and I followed the Loons around for awhile until the sun set, the sky was incredibly beautiful- almost tropical with its vibrant color array of yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, grays all mixed into an art piece that only God can paint. Unfortunately the wind did not die down which did not allow me to capture very clear shots however I did capture one OK shot of the setting sun.

After arriving home I decided I wanted to get up early (4AM) and watch the sunrise over Pushaw as I did last year and took two of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve seen. My cell phone alarm was set for 4AM and I woke surprisingly spry to birds chirping and headed to Pushaw. The skies were cloudless and the water calm, I personally prefer clouds in the sky for good sunrises / sunsets so my photos came out bland which did the beautiful vibrant orange sunrise no justice, I decided to look for something to make it a little more interesting by shooting the area where Robin and I put in the night before. While sitting on a boulder that between water and land I spotted two Loons which could have been the two I photographed last night leisurely swimming into the sunrise gradient hue that painted the water. While I was heading to the car I saw the sunrise through pine needles and leaves I thought that it would make an interesting set of photos, one being my favorite. I had a very good time watching the sun come up; this is something I don’t do much as it’s a special occasion to me. I’d like to note that all of my photos have not been over-saturated in color; these photos have captured what I have seen.

Tags: Kayaking, Nature, Photos

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm.