Photography: Ducks at Sunrise

Sunrise over Washington as ducks frolic in the Reflecting Pool, 7:12 a.m. Wednesday morning.

During the spring and autumnal equinox, the sunrise aligns in the eastern sky with D.C.'s monuments and the Reflecting Pool. Within a week or so on either side of the equinox is the optimal time for photographing a Washington sunrise. I consulted with Jason Samenow, the Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist, for the best morning this week for sunrise photography. We agreed that Wednesday morning, before the coastal storm arrived, should provide clear skies with good visibility. The forecast proved correct and displayed above is a sunrise photo from Wednesday morning.

Keep reading for more sunrise photos and photos of dawn, including the crescent moon. For the weather outlook into the middle of next week, see our full forecast.

The crescent moon is high in the eastern sky as dawn breaks at 6:24 a.m.

I was pleasantly surprised that the crescent moon was still in the eastern sky as dawn broke over D.C. My wide angle lens was just wide enough to capture the moon in combination with the first light on the eastern horizon.

Dawn's light grows brighter by 6:30 a.m.

The sun begins to rise in Washington at 7:00 a.m.

Another duck sunrise photo, just after sunrise, 7:12 a.m.

One more duck pose, in the sun's reflection. I collected quite an assortment of duck sunrise photos with this shoot.

As a side note, I had plenty of company during my photo shoot at the Reflecting Pool. The Lifetime Network was next to me filming the sunrise for the premiere of a new reality show that will air soon. There were plenty of cast members present to begin filming a sequence later that morning, but they would not tell me the name of the series. It's still a mystery, I was told. I had no time to hang around and watch the filming, so I guess I will have to do a little research to see if I can find it on TV and then re-watch the sunrise that I had photographed.