having returned from the ride on route 3199 from arad to masada and back at a relatively decent hour, we got to bed earlier than normal. we were getting up at 4am to drive to the front entrance of masada off the 90. the plan was, of course, to get there early enough (while it was still dark) to get in line and start the tough climb up to the top before sunrise: it is ‘tradition’ to observe the sunrise from masada…

all went according to plan, though we were there earlier than we needed to be.

it did give me time to fiddle a bit before the climb. i set up the gear in front of the car and did my best to focus in the dark of the early morning; the only light source was quite a ways back at the other end of the parking lot. this shot was taken at 1600 iso with a 30-second exposure at f4. it looked interesting enough in the tiny lcd display at the back of the camera; i was pleasantly surprised at how clean the raw files were once i started editing.

this photograph can be found in the following gallery: landscapes