Its been a while since I have wanted to pick up the camera and do anything with it.  I love taking pictures of the sunrise, but I also really enjoy staying snuggled in my bed. Recently we took a trip down to NSW which was a perfect opportunity to get out onto the beach and watch the sun come up.

The scary part is driving to an unknown beach in the pre-dawn pitch black. I’m always a little paranoid but armed with my solid Manfrotto tripod I trudge off along the beach and set up and wait. Every time is different. Some days you get the beautiful burst of orange first light against the deep blue black of the night sky but recently I have been gifted with cloudy dawns.  Cloudy dawns are much more subtle with the clouds reflecting the first light across the horizon but muting it at the same time.  You have to sit and be patient, and wait for the changes in the light – you never know what you will get and when.  The benefit of a cloudy dawn is that the dawn shooting is much longer. On a clear day once that sun peeps over you only have a few moments before the light becomes intense and the shadows begin to lengthen.

Sunrise at Flynns Beach Port Macquarie

My second favourite moment of the sunrise is the time when the beach springs to life.  I have to say, Port Macquaire on the NSW mid coast surprised me. I expected there to be more activity in the pre-dawn.  Often I am joined by boot-campers, joggers, swimmers or surfers before the sun peeps up. But on this day it was eerily quiet until that light had brushed the sky. And then almost as if there was an unspoken rule the beach erupted with activity.

Lone surfer