Capturing the Sunrise at Bear Rocks | Dolly Sods, West Virginia
If you haven't heard of Dolly Sods, it's one of the most beautiful and unique places you can visit in West Virginia. I am fortunate to live fairly close to it. When my son was a toddler we would go to Dolly Sods to have picnics on Bear Rocks and explore trails. Some evenings we would drive up to watch the sunset.
I have many fond memories of this wild and wonderful place.
When my brother's close friend asked me to photograph his engagement pictures at Dolly Sods on October 7, 2022, I decided to make a whole day of it and get up early to catch
a beautiful fall sunrise.
Usually, I only visit the Sods throughout the week when there is parking. I figured since I was getting there at sunrise on a Friday it wouldn't be very busy.
I was wrong.
There were probably 10-20 people there to see the sunrise too. A lot of them photographers with their tripods, navigating the trail to Bear Rocks with headlamps. After I found my spot another photographer set up right beside me. Which was fine. I was just a little surprised.
When I photograph a place, I don't like to stay in one spot. I will bounce around to get different angles and light. As I was bouncing around, it was hard not to get in other photographers' shots and for me to find an angle without other photographers. I know many photographers are great at photoshop and can erase people from their shots, but I am not the best at photoshop and it takes a long time.
I ended up with a couple of shots that I feel are worthy of being printed and put on the wall.
You can check out the metal prints below.