Lake Kussharo before dawn

This is half an hour before dawn and the temperature is about -20˚C (-4˚F).  You can see the crescent moon high in the sky.

Kotan and Sunayu (see previous and next posts) are on the far side of the lake.  Kotan is at the mid-right behind a small peninsula and Sunayu is behind Naka Island, near the right tip of the island.

Lake Kussharo at dawn

The sun is now peeking through over the horizon.   The exposure is 8 stops less than half an hour before so the level of light is 256 times greater.

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Previously we climbed up to the viewpoint of the lake from the parked bus.  These frosty trees in falling snow are on the way back down.

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Now we are further back down the hill, near the bus.  Due to the change in elevation, the sun once again was just peeking out over the distant hills.

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The angle of view of these five images varies considerably.  The first two used a 14mm lens, which is a diagonal angle of view of 114˚.  The middle one used a 300mm lens which has an angle of view of 8˚ and the last two were at the equivalent of a 450mm lens which is a 6˚ angle of view.