Photos With Nop and Dave: Bell Mountain Sunrise

In photography—as in life—sometimes you have to try, try again. Just ask photographer David Stonner.

Dave had attempted to capture the wild, wideopen view from the top of Bell Mountain before. He’d been there in winter, but bone-chilling weather had made it tough to operate his camera. Through his lens, the snowless Ozark hills looked bare and ugly.

The following spring, Dave tried again. This time, he decided to photograph a sunrise from the summit. He lugged camping gear up the two-mile trail, then pitched his tent. As the sun sank, he sipped hot cocoa, listened to coyotes howl and watched the stars come out. By the time the moon rose, Dave was snug in his sleeping bag.

His beeping alarm woke Dave well before sunrise. He set up his camera by moonlight and watched the eastern sky change from inky blue to smoky gray. Tendrils of fog crept from hilltops down into valleys. When the sun peeked over the distant hills, Dave watched the clouds overhead explode in warm, rosy colors.

One picture wouldn’t do justice to this sweeping, sun-kissed vista, so Dave snapped seven. Back at his office, he stitched them together on his computer into a single, stunning image.

Dave’s quest was to capture the spectacular view from atop Bell Mountain. His persistence paid off, don’t you think?

To see more of Dave’s photos, visit www.xplormo. org/node/9025.