I recently had another opportunity to get out of town and do a bit of shooting. I knew right away that I wanted to visit Shenandoah National Park, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I figured that I wanted to do something new and started poring over maps and trail suggestions. When I came across the hike for Hawksbill summit, things started falling into place. It was a relatively short hike with a beautiful vista and the drive was not too long. While the summit is on the western side of the mountains, which would normally present a good sunset but not a good sunrise, I found that the summit faced northwest and the sun would be rising mostly from the north. There was really just one problem, viz. I would have to get going very early in the morning if I wanted to get there on location before dawn. I figured the drive would take at least 2½ hours, the hike would take another 45 minutes, and I would need time for setup. Adding it all up, I found that I needed to depart from home no later than 2:30 AM. Ouch! Fortunately, it was all worth it.

Summer Sunrise on Hawksbill SummitView of the summer sunrise from the summit of Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. I took that shot at a bit before 6:00 AM. I took the following at 5:20 AM:

Summer Skies at Dawn from HawksbillSummer skies at dawn from the summit of Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

And I was home by lunchtime.

The Capitol dome with pink and purple fireworksFireworks explode behind the Capitol dome in Washington, DC, on July 4, 2017.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Sunny Spring Skyline, RomeSunny spring scenic look at Rome from the Villa Borghese Gardens. Here's one last photo for you in my series from Italy: a scenic look at Rome from the Villa Borghese Gardens. Check out the whole Italy series in an album here.