The hour after sunrise and the one before sunset are often referred to as the "magic hours" because of the soft warm light cast by the low sun. In the mountains, this time also means that many valleys will be shaded. This is a great opporunity to use a graduated neutral density filter or create a high-dynamic-range (HDR) image.
The photo above was neither, as I pulled over on my way to work to capture the scene with a handheld camera. With my tripod and camera manual in the truck, I hope to try some bracketed photos in the coming weeks, and see if I can turn them into HDR at home.
