Yesterday I welcomed the sunrise at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first time that I have tried to photograph a sunrise in a long time. There are electric gates at this refuge and I arrived at 7:00 a.m., just after they had slid open. Sunrise was officially at 7:26, so I had to hustle to make it down to the water’s edge in time to see the sun begin to move above the horizon. It was cold, only 37 degrees (3 degrees C), so I made sure to zip up my coat and raise its hood.
I arrived in time and played around with the panorama feature on my iPhone to capture the second image below before the sun was visible. My panning was not quite steady, but I like the wide view that I was able to capture.
The first shot, also taken with my iPhone, shows the sun just after it had risen above the water. I really like the reflection of the sunlight in the water and the movement of the water that is visible in the image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.


Good shot and a good start Mike. Thanks