There are days when photographing the beautiful landscape around you comes at a cost. Often that cost is sleep. On this particular morning I wanted to capture the sunrise over Hayes Lake. A manmade lake surrounded by forest created from a small river flowing in that has been damned off. The challenge with being awake for the sunrise was that I had spent much of the night photographing the Milkyway rising from the horizon over this calm lake. And before that, the day included searching for Minnesota’s native orchids of which several were found, but that meant little rest during the day (and night). The conditions just presented the opportunity I was looking for for each of these possible photographs.

During the day, several orchids were in bloom and there was no rain expected (although passing showers popped up) making it a good opportunity to search for them. Along with spending hours in search of as many orchids as I could find, there were other native plants in bloom along with areas to explore all day long. Food? Not sure how important that really is. A few bites of something should be enough and on to the next area needing to be seen. After a day of adventure it was time to return to the campsite for a brief meal. Once this was complete, the sky continued to clear so out to do a little scouting for nighttime photos. An advantage of giving myself time was being able to enjoy the beautiful sunset. With just a few clouds floating across the sky, the colors provided a great end to the day.

With a little time before it would be dark enough to capture the night sky and a few potential places to set up the camera, I returned to the campsite and enjoyed an evening fire. As I started to relax I began to question if I really wanted to go back with the camera. My pillow was started to really call after a day of exploring and the time nearing midnight. As darkness engulfed the landscape, the stars shown brightly with not a cloud to hide them. A great situation to photograph the night sky with very little light pollution. One of the darkest skies I’ve had the chance to spend the night under. How could I possibly pass up this situation? Dragging myself into the car I returned to the lake where I was earlier and set up the camera. As those first pictures lit up on the screen I was re-energized and kept shooting away trying different things and different compositions. As the night wore on, fog began to develop across the lake making it more challenging to capture sharp pictures.

It was now after 3am and the sun would begin filling the horizon in just a few hours and this fog could make for some great sunrise photos. Do I just stay awake and enjoy the quiet morning hours? I decided to go back to the vehicle, turn on the heat to at least warm my hands and feet which were now pretty cold and see if I could get in a brief nap. Sleep could come back at the campsite once the sun made it’s way higher in the sky. At least that’s what I convinced myself of.  I woke to a small amount of light entering the area and a few minutes later was back out at the lake setting up for the imminent sunrise. Just as I had hoped, the fog continued to float across the glass like surface I had left a short time before. Continuing to shoot away, I was enjoying the world waking up around me welcoming a new summer day and eventually capturing the image at the top. Returning to get some sleep? A new day had arrived and there was more exploring to do. Maybe an early night to catch up…..