Getting the ball rolling...

Starting the year as I mean to carry on, I'm up before dawn; checking the weather by looking out of the window; packing a camera and two lenses, and off out into the gathering light on my bike to shoot the sunrise. I can't think of a better way to see in the New Year: far better than all that faffing-about the night before and not feeling too good the following morning. Ideally, I could have done with a bit more cloud to spice things up a touch, but it's good enough. I am always drawn to the contrasting colours of first light in the sky, and the tones of the sea under such conditions; complementary (and opposites) on the colour wheel.

I while away a few minutes before the event with a like-minded shooter on the beach, discussing the finer points of nothing in particular, before he decides to move further along the shore and I get to concentrate on the job in hand. It can be a serious distraction - with missed shots - when others attempt to strike up conversations at such times. I think he felt the same. I'm rather surprised to note that I took  39 frames in the 14 minutes it took for the sun to become visible and then deemed too high for the effect to be lost. You don't get long with such subjects, but then there were no distractions.


24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/640 second at f/5.6.  +1 stop EV compensation. ISO 400. Monopod


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