Photos at Dawn? Sure, Give Me a Balcony and My Coffee

A Dreamy Dawn on The Sea of Cortez

Early morning light has its devotees, though I am not one of them—mostly due to the requisite early bird awakening. But if I can grab a dawn image from my balcony window while the coffee’s brewing, I’m as willing to photograph the unique morning light as anyone. Mostly, though, my camera is in hand during the afternoon bewitching hour, golden time.

Dawn broke over the Sea of Cortez with a glimmer of sunlight, then cast its shimmer over the waters that lapped into the San José del Cabo Harbor. Tiny forms in the distance made themselves known as fisherman, boats and then beach strollers; native grasses waved their luminous shadows into a slowly-lighting pond; mountains emerged in the far far distance, while the omnipresent palm trees took on form and detail nearby. Before the mist could disappear, the sun threw down a dreamy golden layer, ethereal and temporary, really just a brief promise of cool air, until the full-on sun would bring the day’s tropical, still heat. ♣

See more photographs from Mexico in my Mission Mexico series. This dreamy dawn image comes from the Mexico Baja, made along the Sea of Cortez, in San José del Cabo (just beyond the better-known, but far more touristy, Cabo San Lucas). A variation of A Dreamy Dawn on The Sea of Cortez, featuring different images and text, appeared here in 2014.

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