It’s Sunrise Time

It’s approaching the time of year where in Arizona the sun rises due east. Last fall I shot some pictures at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the Arizona State Capital in Phoenix and I plan to try some again this spring.

The plaza is centered on Washington Street which runs east-west through downtown Phoenix. Washington Street literally splits at the east end of the park, providing a vantage point looking down the middle of Washington Street. Twice each year the sun rises at the end of the street, providing an opportunity for a shot with a rising sun and sun stars between the city buildings.

Sunrise on Washington Street

My shots last fall weren’t great and I want to try it again. I’ve been waiting for this time of year. The previous shots had some traffic cones in them and I actually waited too long to get the shot (I was a day late). According to The Photographer’s Ephemeris (http://photoephemeris.com/), it looks like March 19th is the day to start trying to shoot. The 20th has the sun rising a bit north of the street and it is likely going to be the better shot.

I believe that the 20th will be the better shot because of my experience last fall. Even though the angle of the sun looks like it’s coming up due east and at the end of Washington Street, the Ephemeris doesn’t take in to consideration that the Superstition Mountains are visible at the end of the street and that the elevation of the mountains means that even though the angle of the sun is correct, the sunrise is BELOW the level of the mountains.

The sun actually rose above the level of the mountains when it was partially hidden by the buildings. What that means is that I should have been there a day or two earlier so that the sun would be as low as possible, but still above the level of the mountains when it is centered between the buildings. In fall, the sunrise location is moving south each morning and I didn’t have another good shot.
In spring the sunrise location is moving north each morning so if I go early and don’t get a good shot because the sun is too far south when it breaches the mountains, I know the next day will be better.

Lesson learned.

It also looks like I may be able to get a shot of the sun coming through the main arch at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on March 22nd. This shot offers up a lesson – when I took pictures of the arch in February I wish that I’d noted the bearing to the arch from where I took the picture. When I look at the satellite image on the Ephemeris I can’t tell for sure where the arch is. If I had noted the direction from where I took the shot I might be able to tell for sure where the arch is located.