Sunrise before the Rain - Isaac Walton Pool

I was awake, lying in the bed and wondering what time it was.  Lifting my head, the alarm clock told me 5:30 am.  I slipped quietly out of bed and felt my way to the door (Woe-betide we allow light into the bedroom).  Looking out of another window, a red glow was visible to the east.  I'd almost decided to ignore it when I noticed the glow reflected on the gable wall of the house opposite - must be better than I realise.

Grabbed the keys and managed to get as far as this pool as the sky bloomed into colour.  Ran along the path and stepped out onto one of the fishing stages.  Initially I took a shot found in extras.  Then I decided I need a panoramic of the arching clouds in the sky.  Once that was done I was looking for foreground interest.  Yes, I threw a pebble into the water (rather than using one of those convenient plugins available).

I've posted early as it is already raining and not much improvement forecast here today.

Technical: 3 shot panoramic stitch in Lightroom's photo merge.  2 stop Hard ND Grad to hold the sky's luminance. A separate shot for the ripples, subsequently overlaid in Photoshop, masked to just reveal the ripples and merge to reflection in the water.


Finally, pulled back shadow detail and lowered highlights, clarity and vibrance increased, sharpened and exported.