Unless you’re on turkey duty for the day, Thanksgiving morning is always a great time to wake up early and sneak in a couple hours photo time. Traffic tends to be light or non-existent through mid-morning, and there are often fewer hikers competing for frame (and tripod footing) on the back trails. You’ll also feel better about that second (or third) helping of mashed potatoes you’ll be having later anyway, because you’ll have earned it. 

If you’re searching for some inspiration, here are a few articles to help get you inspired:

Pop Photo published a short article last weekon recognizing good times and lighting conditions for nature photography. While the focus is on brightness, color, and direction as three key elements that can make or break your image, it was the “blue hour” that you can capture during the hour before sunrises that caught our eye. Possibly a way to harness hue in order to give a tired local shooting spot a fresh look?

If you’ve made it out for blue hour, chances are you’ll be able to take advantage of sunrise light as well. Check out Digital Photography School’s guide to shooting a sunrise.

So maybe you’re not an early bird, and you’d prefer to sleep in a bit on your day off. Light and location dependent, “earth portraits” are another thing we read about recently and appreciated. Intimate, potentially striking, and flexible enough for even urban landscape photographers to get into - what's not to love?

And for anyone reading on the East Coast, here’s a list of tips for photographing storms (and staying safe) from Light Stalking.

Happy Thanksgiving!