I thought I may as well start with the most recent photo on my Flickr stream:
This photo is a result of my quest this autumn to catch a great sunrise. Sunrises and sunsets can be beautiful and can make fantastic photos, but you have to catch them with the right weather conditions. And for really good sightlines and scenery, you can’t beat the sun rising or setting over water. The problem is, I live on the east coast of Australia.
If you live on a western coast, you have the luxury of watching the sun set over water. You can have a leisurely day doing whatever you do, and judge the weather conditions to see if there will be a spectacular sunset, and then go photograph it at leisure. If you live on an eastern coast, you need to catch the sunrise. You need to wake up before dawn, peer outside to try to guess the weather conditions, then head out anyway because you can’t tell. You arrive at the coast in pitch blackness, while nearly everyone else is still asleep, and you hope that the sunrise will be worth it. And more often than not, the weather is cruel.
The best time of year to do this peculiar form of self-torture is autumn, just before daylight saving ends. The weather is still warm enough for early mornings to not be freezing cold, and the late sunrise means you only have to get up around 5:30, rather than 4am or so in summer. This autumn, I’ve made five pre-dawn treks to various beaches, hoping for that elusive golden sunrise. Each time I’ve been more or less disappointed.
I can still get some photos that I like and am proud of, and this photo is one from my most recent excursion, on 30 March. I think it turned out well, and is pretty good for the timing, which was about 20 minutes before sunrise. However, very soon after I took this photo, a storm rolled in from the south and thick cloud obscured that pink glow on the horizon. I never saw the actual sunrise at all, and I didn’t get the sort of photos I was really hoping for.
But still, no photographic trip is a complete loss if you look at it the right way. I still took some photos, of clouds and swirling ocean and wave-washed rocks. And I was up early and had the whole day to look forward to! I love cramming as much into a day as I can, so this was a good start.
Tags: photostory