We strongly discourage sunrise shoots. The weather in the mornings is somewhat unpredictable, and more often than not, we are left with overcast, hazy, or muggy atmosphere that is hard to forecast, and your investment is wasted on mediocre photos. It’s not uncommon for us to have to revisit sites over and over again to find the perfect sunrise. In one case, for an architect, we traveled to a site eight times before we saw sunlight in the morning, which was a very expensive endeavor.
Sunsets, by contrast, are easier to forecast and predict if it will be a good or bad condition. It’s easier to look around a site and find a good sunset spot. Still, we have found that “great” sunsets only occur about once every two weeks during most times of year. So it’s still a gamble, but even if the sunset isn’t spectacular, that late-evening light, known as the “golden hour” is typically great for exterior photos and videos.
Sunrise and sunset shoots do incur additional cost. We have a 100/200 mile rule for sunrise and sunsets — during Standard time the 100 mile rule is in effect, and during Daylight Saving Time, the 200 mile rule is in effect. We charge $150 per diem in addition to our hourly rates for sunrise and sunsets that are taken more than 100/200 miles from Kerrville. This allows us to safely travel to and from your site with the option of staying overnight.
Local sunrise/sunset shoots do not incur the per diem fee, but are usually billed on an hourly basis for shooting and editing, since it does require additional time and labor to produce these images.