Industrial Sunrise

Some of the blogs I follow feature a lot of photography that is at or near a professional level. Others periodically offer some compelling scenes caught on camera just to share them with others, including some collections of beautiful sunsets. I love a good sunset as much as the next guy, but think that a good sunrise can be every bit as dramatic and beautiful.

Outside of a short stretch that runs about two weeks either side of the summer solstice, my work day begins in darkness. One benefit is that I get to experience the sunrise on a regular schedule, at least on the days that are not rainy or overcast. But instead of a sunrise over an expanse of water or over a bucolic country scene, the sunrises I experience are over an industrial landscape that I find can be beautiful under that brief lighting condition.

Skilled and experienced photographers will find some weaknesses in these shots, many of which were snagged in a rushed moment. Although most of these scenes could have been improved by more careful composition and perhaps a better vantage point, I was where I was when I was and took what I could get when I could safely (and without neglecting my duties) get it. The lede shot is such an example. I drive by this scene most days and it has nagged at me as a potentially great photo.

I managed to catch the same scene on another morning, just a bit farther into the sunrise on a beautifully clear morning. I struggled with whether to crop the wires out of the view, but I love the full spectrum of color that the early morning sky offers here.

But here, I consider the wires a feature and not a bug. Most people find little to admire about a lot full of semi trailers. A colorful sky at sunrise and the shadows that are beginning to give way can change that.

They can also do good things to an empty parking lot and a suburban warehouse building. I find these kinds of warehouses, which seem to be under construction on farmland near interstate highways everywhere you look, to have a dulling sameness. At least after the sun ends its gentle caress and cranks up the lumens.

Some of these scenes remind me of the start of a new day, brimming with anticipation of the work that will be done by a thousand souls – small individual tasks that coordinate and combine to make the products that will improve life for millions of others. The first few minutes of sunlight can add a layer of beauty to what most would never grace with a second look.

The cell phone camera is an amazing thing that can allow us to share scenes that resonate with us as we stumble across them. For someone like me who regularly experiences a sunrise in midwestern industrial settings, moments like these are ones that I can capture and savor for their unique kind of beauty. And to wish the rest of you six different versions of good morning.

Photos by the author, all rights reserved. Note: none of these photos was taken from a moving vehicle, but from either a parked vehicle or while on foot with a camera on which location tags have been disabled.

30 thoughts on “Industrial Sunrise”

  1. Sunrises are wonderful to watch; I think they are better to watch than a sunset. Like you indicated, a sunrise has anticipation; it shows the hope of a day that has yet to be sullied by various events. It is the birth of potentially great things happening.

    A sunset is a conclusion, the death of the day.

    I suspect people talk more about sunsets as they don’t have to have to get out of bed as early. Then again, Monday is my favorite day of the week for the same reasons I prefer sunrises. You have captured some really nice sunrises.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks! That was my thought too – sunsets are easier to enjoy because most people are already up. And, I guess they come packaged with the satisfaction of a day (hopefully) well and profitably spent. Or maybe the sunset is the one good thing at the end of a day where everything has gone some kind of wrong.

      I must confess that I cannot share your enthusiasm for Monday mornings. Although these days, Monday is the middle day of my 5 day work week, so there is at leasst a little cause for celebration when I arise in the dark.

      Like

      Reply

  2. Nice shots. I have an appreciation for places where real work gets done, so I think the elements a lot of people dislike about truck yards and warehouses are as important in a photo as they are in real life.

    The other day, I heard an ‘old geezer’ tell a couple of his ‘old geezer’ buddies his camera has a phone attached to it. Hearing the utter perplexity in their response was kind of funny. I sort of wanted to let him know my camera also has a phone attached to it (well the one I had with me that day did), just to make him feel better.

    ‘Old Geezer’ not used derogatorily

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I laughed out loud at your geezer story! And no offense taken, I am trying to embrace geezerdom with enthusiasm and gusto! 🙂

      For those of us who grew up in the era when a telephone was something with a dial on the front and was permanently wired into the house, a telephone with a camera could indeed be an amazing concept. I sometimes wonder at the kind of astonishment that older people would have once had when first encountering pre-sliced bread or power windows in a car – a cell phone with a camera has to be right up there in the same league. I wonder how many tech-averse older folks there are who have no idea that the cell phone someone bought them “for emergencies” has a camera.

      And thanks – lots of these places are usually considered eyesores during daylight, but a dawn or twilight sky can transform them.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I am just old enough to remember dial-bedecked and wall-mounted phones. Such an item with a camera in it would be essentially pointless, I think.

        What I found sort of amusing about the situation was the other guys probably also had a camera-mounted phone in their pockets; they just didn’t understand the clever guy’s joke.

        A mind-blowing perspective could also be: we sent people to the moon with less cumulative computing power than we each carry around in our pockets.

        Liked by 1 person

      • I have a friend, whose father passed in 2023, at the age of 103. My son knew the gentleman as well, and has never (subsequently) stopped pointing out that “He was OLDER THAN SLICED BREAD.” (invented in 1928 in Missouri)

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Great industrial photos, JP! 1 & 2 are my favorites, with the smoke.

    I got started in photography back in the ’80s when you had to use a real camera, film, and then wait for pictures to be developed. Focus, lighting, and framing was a challenge. It was hard to get really good results. With today’s smartphone cameras, everyone’s a pro! And now you can share your pics with a wide audience on the internet and get likes and comments. Whole different world! Plus you can do all kinds of photo editing on your computer. If you don’t like the wires in photo #2, you can edit them out.

    While not a sunrise, here’s a picture with interesting lighting I took back in 1982 using Kodachrome. It’s Thomas Edison’s home, Glenmont, in West Orange NJ.

    Also, believe it or not, industrial buildings used to be quite beautiful. These are 19th century industrial warehouses with cast iron facades in lower Manhattan. I have walked these streets, and the visual effect is rather surreal. Like you’re back in the 1800s when everything was beautiful. With all our technology, why everything today has to be so stark and bland I don’t know.

    IMG_0006

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. There is beauty everywhere you look if you think about it. We have a lot of oil refineries and chemical plants here clustered along the river, which most people consider an eyesore, but there have been many nights their bright shining lights guided me home in bad weather!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks, Jim. I appreciate feedback from a real photographer. I’m hoping that “interesting” isn’t used like I would use it when my young children would present me with something they attempted to bake. 😖🤣

      Like

      Reply

  6. The first photo is quite striking. A facility designed and built solely with function in mind becomes almost beautiful, thanks to the rising sun and exterior lights.

    Now factories, warehouses and even some office buildings are designed to be as functional – and inexpensive to build – as possible. Quite a contrast to the early 20th century, when even some factories, such as Packard’s East Grand Boulevard factory, were designed to be pleasing to the eye and an aesthetic asset to the neighborhood.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I like your photos JP and you managed to capture a range of colors in each sky in the various settings. I especially liked how you wrote about welcoming the sunrise as well – this was my favorite line in the post: “At least after the sun ends its gentle caress and cranks up the lumens.”

    My good friend Marge who encouraged me to start my blog went to the Detroit River in Wyandotte every day, weather permitting, to watch the sun rise. She left the house very early, stopped at McDonald’s to buy a coffee and breakfast sandwich, then drove five miles to Bishop Park and that is how she welcomed the day, camera in one hand, food/drink in the other hand. I now wish I’d joined her, at least once. I am leery to go out before dawn or after dusk to go to the River for a clear view due to crime. I just don’t think it is all that safe anymore in this city or surrounding cities.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I was in your state early in the week and got to experience a couple of sunsets over Lake Michigan. Those are truly stunning. But being on vacation, I avoided the sunrises for a change. 🙂

      Thanks for the encouraging words on the photos. My skills have certainly improved over the last decade or so.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Yes, by all means, sleep in a few mornings. Paul Gross, the retired weatherman I follow on social media has a vacation home up north and often posts pics of gorgeous sunsets over Lake Michigan, so I know what you mean. You’re welcome. I’ve never taken a true sunrise or sunset photo – I hope to one day.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Great shots. I can imagine being there.

    I love photographing both sunrises and sunsets, but count me in as a greater fan of sunrise.

    My favorite time of day is actually the hour before sunrise, particularly in the middle of the summer in a warm climate. That will forever remind me of delivering morning newspapers on my bike in the mid-1970s.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. These are great pictures.  They remind me of a picture that my father took about 30 years ago.  One morning he was at work when the sun rose, and it was a particularly vivid sunrise – he went the roof of his office building in Philadelphia and took a picture towards the sunrise.  In the photo, the sun is rising over the City’s skyline, with a construction site off to one side.  I’m not a real City kind of person, but I’ve always loved the picture, and for years had an enlarged version of it hanging in my house.  Sunrises can make anything beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I have to say, the twenty year old me, starting a photo career, probably would have been more critical of these photos; but the later me, after years of studying art and culture, actually sees a lot of interest and value in these. There’s a lot of quiet and subtle beauty in these.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. I think sunrises don’t get equal billing because so many people are sleeping through them. I love them, partly because I feel the best when they arrive. Of course, part of that can be because I am retired and not heading to work for the day. I love sunsets too but I am weary at the point. I worked in the industrial part of town most of my career and as your wonderful photos demonstrate, every place has its own unique beauty if you look for it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment