The golden hour (otherwise known as the magic hour) in photography refers to the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset or the first and last hour of sunlight in a day. The angle of the sun as it washes through the atmosphere creates a softer light. Shadows can be long or non-existent and the lighting is a warmer hue.
Sunrise…
It was a cold day, one like any other when my eyes lay upon the most breath taking show of light as night became day. I recently read a poem about this daily occurrence and I just have to share its first paragraph:
The sun rises and another day turns its face westward with the dawn.
What awaits us as we spy the light?
The sun, shares its brightness with each passing minute, casting rays upon the newborn day.
It buries the dark, rising, overpowering the night and making yesterdays varying triumphs and failures fade, bringing hope for the today.
I would have to admit being more of a night owl in the past. I have seen more sunsets than sunrises and I need to thank Dan for dragging me out of bed to see this natural exquisiteness.
For those text messages early before my eyes open notifying me of the glory that is about to behold while you are driving into work, I am indebted to you.
Did I have my camera that one cold day? No… That sunrise was burned into memory, never to be forgotten. However, Dan was there by my side basking in all of its glory. Did we end up with a photography outing that day? Of course!
I am going back to some of the sunrises we have had the chance to capture this year. Some are a brilliant show of colors, others are drowned in fog; each morning brings forth new opportunities.
Find the Beauty 
