Attractions, landmarks, food, architecture, topography and people are only a few of the reasons why people travel to different places around the world — but sometimes the best part of the day while traveling is either when the sun rises at dawn or when the sun sets at dusk.
Sunrises and Sunsets From Around the World
Sunrises represent the beginning of a brand new day through which adventures and experiences await — but sunsets signal the end of a day with a time to be a night owl and go out on the town before retiring to the evening slumber which recharges your batteries, so to speak…
…but which is better: the sunrise or the sunset? I look back on my collection of some of the sunrises and sunsets which I have captured and recorded with my trusty camera — and, if anything, give you a respite if you are currently suffering from the cold winter weather blues.
Sunrises
At approximately 6:40 in the morning on a cool morning in Daytona Beach in Florida, the sun was approximately 35 minutes from peeking above the horizon — but that did not stop it from displaying vivid colors in harmony with the cumulous clouds which floated effortlessly in the sky.
Streaks of orange became more vibrant in contrast to clouds shrouded in purple prior to the sun ascending over Daytona Beach.
Most of the lights went out in Daytona Beach as dawn emblazoned the Atlantic Ocean with reddish bronze hues as I looked out from my ocean view room at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort property. A trip report of this resort property is forthcoming.
Hoping to score the catch of the day, fisherman already line the famous pier which has greeted every sunrise in Daytona Beach since it was built in 1925.
The sun shines over the water after peeking above the horizon separating the Atlantic Ocean from the sky at Daytona Beach.
Every dawn is different; and water is not a necessary element for the recipe of a beautiful sunrise. The clouds help to accentuate the beauty of this sunrise north of Harrisonburg in northwest Virginia.
This sunrise was photographed through a window of a Megabus on which I was a passenger while traveling northeast along Interstate 81. Please see this article for additional photographs of this sunrise — as well as read about part of my experience with Megabus from Atlanta to the District of Columbia.
Sunrises can be photographed from the air as well. This picture of a cumulonimbus cloud was taken from aboard an airplane operated by Delta Air Lines prior to an early morning descent into Amsterdam after flying overnight from Atlanta as I was en route to Nairobi for a safari in southern Kenya.
Try as they might, the clouds ultimately failed to mitigate the sunrise over the Netherlands to which my bleary eyes were treated that morning.
Industrial elements can also add character of sorts to a sunrise — such as this one captured with power lines along a two-lane road in Kennesaw, which is northwest of Atlanta in Georgia.
The usually bustling central train station in Minsk quietly awaited this sunrise, which was taken from the Hampton by Hilton Minsk City Centre hotel property. I still have yet to write an article with a trip report pertaining to my experience — but I did write an article about this particular sunrise while I was at that hotel property in Belarus.
My room at the Hilton Warsaw Hotel and Convention Centre hotel property in Poland was where I photographed this sunrise over the city. Yes, I know, I know — yet another article with a trip report which I need to write; but not only did I write an article about this particular sunrise while I was at that hotel property, I also wrote this article pertaining to a partial rainbow to which I was treated.
I enjoyed watching this sunrise from the comfort of a warm room during a frigid clear morning at the Hilton Helsinki Strand hotel property in Finland. Please read this article for more details on my experience at this hotel property.
Sunsets
An airplane is about to land on one of the runways at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
The moon looms in the distance over the horizon near Lake Lanier, which is located northeast of Atlanta in the state of Georgia.
An overnight flight across the Pacific Ocean shows a sheet of what appears to be ribbons of clouds in the lower portion of the photograph as the sun rises.
Kids play soccer — or football — along the coast of Muscat at the Gulf of Oman.
Please read the following articles for more information pertaining to my experiences in Oman — and I do have more articles which I have yet to write:
- Some Quiet Time Along the Shore of Muscat in Oman: A Photographic Essay
- Review: Grand Hyatt Muscat
- 3 Reasons Why I Did Not Like the Souq at Muttrah Corniche in Muscat in Oman
- Old Watch Tower in Old Muscat, Oman
- The Road to Wadi Ghul — The Grand Canyon of Oman
- Hawiyat Najim Park: Bimmah Sinkhole in Oman
- The Boat Ride Into Wadi Shab in Oman
- Wadi Shab in Oman: A Photographic Essay of Its Entrance
- Approaching Wadi Shab in Oman
- Fun With Enclaves and Exclaves: United Arab Emirates and Oman
- Oman: Nizwa on a Friday Night
- Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Oman: A First Look — With Photographs
- Getting Around Oman: The Best Way is…
A thunderstorm followed me from Botswana for at least an hour as I drove into South Africa.
Please read the following articles for more information pertaining to my experiences in Botswana:
- Where Life Began? Matsieng Footprints in Botswana
- One Morning in Gaborone, Botswana
- Cresta President Hotel May Be the Best Place to Stay in Gaborone — But Not For Long
The sky looked more and more amazing as the dark continent plunged into nighttime.
Please read the following articles for more information pertaining to my experiences in South Africa — and I do have more articles which I have yet to write:
- Review: Top of Africa in Johannesburg
- The Great Johannesburg Steak-Out: The Grillhouse Versus The Butcher Shop & Grill
- Electronic Tolls in South Africa: Economic Apartheid?
- Review: Protea Hotel Samrand in Midrand, South Africa
- 11 Things You Should Know About Driving Across Borders in Southern Africa
- Four Hours at the Lesotho Border With a Flat Tire — and Locked Out of the Hotel
A lone zebra grazes amidst the sunset in Kenya.
I truly enjoyed watching animals in their native habitat going about their lives — such as when I was unexpectedly treated to witnessing a cheetah surprising its prey, killing it and feasting on it; or when I simply hung around with the awkward but graceful giraffes.
Watching zebras and their sometimes quirky behavior was interesting to me. There was the viewing of the lion with one eye with his lioness companion. I enjoyed hanging out with elephants at a watering hole — as well as seeing a herd of elephants going about their day — and seeing a huge herd of Cape buffalo up close.
Observing playful vervet monkeys; watching an olive baboon nursing her young; and spotting a lone black rhinoceros crossing the road — all at Lake Nakuru National Park — were quite interesting…
…and let us not forget the different varieties of birds which I spotted while on safari in Kenya.
There are more photographs of different animals on deck from that safari to be highlighted in future articles — including but not limited to hippopotami and white rhinoceros — so please stay tuned.
The lighthouse in Biloxi was mildly damaged after the Mississippi Gulf Coast was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005.
The sun sets behind the lighthouse on Beach Boulevard — which is also known as United States Highway 90 — in Biloxi. The traffic light was one of the few objects which was powered by electricity that evening.
The dark Mississippi Gulf Coast was punctuated only by the headlights of vehicles on Highway 90 that evening — but although the sun was setting in the orange sky, it had not set on the hopes and dreams of the resilient residents who live there and viewed the sunset as the dawn of a new future. Please read this series of articles pertaining to my visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast not long after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region:
- Remembering Hurricane Katrina in Photographs: A New Beginning, 2005
- Hotels, Casinos and Other Public Buildings
- Home Will Never Be the Same
- Signs in Biloxi
- Tree-Mendous Damage in Pass Christian
- A Grave Situation in Biloxi
- Point Cadet in Biloxi
- The Destroyed Biloxi Bay Bridge in Lots of Photographs
Another airplane is about to land during a clear evening on one of the runways at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
The city of Copenhagen is the star of this stage during this Danish sunset.
After spending the day in Manila, I stopped to watch this sunset over Manila Bay in the Philippines. For additional information on my visit to Manila, please read the following articles:
- Vignettes of the Streets of Manila
- Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica: My Visit
- Walking on the Fortress Walls of Intramuros in Manila: A Photographic Essay
- Roxas Boulevard and the Filipino-American Friendship Footbridge in Manila
- The Pope Rides in a Jeepney in Manila
A limited access highway in Romania is where this sunset was taken on my way from the Black Sea back to Bucharest.
A squall dumps a deluge of water into the Andaman Sea of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Phuket in Thailand.
Once the squall passed away from Phuket, I witnessed one of the more spectacular sunsets which I had ever seen.
Not only had I witnessed a sunrise in Kenya; but I also caught this sunset.
Bran Castle in the Transylvania area of Romania near Brașov is best known for the legend of Count Dracula — or, perhaps, Vlad the Impaler — who should be awake not long after this sunset.
From my suite at the Hilton Nairobi hotel property, I watch the sun set behind the buildings which are located in the center of the city. Please read this article pertaining to my experience of scoring a suite at the Hilton Nairobi hotel property.
The airplane heads eastward as a crescent moon presides over this sunset in the United States.
The sun peeks through the palm trees during this sunset in Nassau in the Bahamas.
Looking west on highway E20 towards Copenhagen, the sun sets as I watch from my room at what used to be known as the the Hilton Copenhagen Airport hotel property.
It was not the best of sunsets; it was not the worst of sunsets — but after traveling in an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean and finally getting to check into my room at the Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa hotel property, seeing the view shown above of a sunset in western Helsinki was the perfect way to relax and enjoy part of my first evening in that country not long before taking a hot shower and going to sleep in a comfortable bed for the night. The clouds obscured the sun — much as they typically would during the dead of winter — but the inlet which leads out to the Gulf of Finland was so calm that to me, the scenery outside of the window was serene. Please read this article pertaining to more information about my stay at this hotel property.
Deception Pass — which connects the northern end of Whidbey Island with the southern end of Fidalgo Island — is the scene for this sunset over the waterway of the same name in the Puget Sound area of Washington state.
Across the Rhine River is Switzerland, as this photograph was taken from Liechtenstein when I spent the day there. Please read this article pertaining to additional details of my visit to Liechtenstein for the day.
Summary
Lighting plays a very important role in photography; and a sunrise or a sunset can add a dramatic enough effect to significantly improve a picture. That is often a secret yet simple trick to great photography.
So which is your favorite: a sunrise or a sunset? Please post your choice and reasons in the Comments section below.
All photographs ©2005, ©2007, ©2008, ©2009, ©2010, ©2013, ©2014, ©2015, ©2016, ©2017 and ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
