Worth the effort

Because I had a definite plan in mind yesterday morning (to get up early and drive to Whangateau and photograph the sunrise from by the Big Omaha Wharf), I had set the alarm on my watch. As it happened I woke before that, and believed I had therefore turned off the alarm.

This morning I was woken by the alarm, at that earlier than usual time. Looked at the sky (cloudy; low black clouds), thought about the tide (fairly much low tide), and thought I should do something later in the day.

BUT; I remembered that I was heading back to Auckland to pick up daughter C and her two boys to join us all at the beach house, and the probability was high that there would be no run later in the day. So I headed out, thinking that at least I could get in a run, and some sort of reserve photo.

As I ran along Erceg's Way, just back from the sand of Snells Beach, I realised that a really dramatic sunrise (above the dark clouds rather than emerging above the horizon). I took three or four shots. About half way along the almost 2 km length of the path, I saw a heron in the near shore shallows, and went on to a position where I was able to focus over the heron, across the mud and sand flats, to the sky of the sunrise.

This is the result. Unchanged from the camera, which today is the compact; i.e. little ability to change any aspect of the automatic function.

Despite that I have blipped a number of morning skies across these flats at low tide, both with and without one or more heron, I found myself unable to go beyond this photo, and indeed have taken no more photographs today. Not completely true. I did take a couple or so of our daily visitor to the Mahoe tree; the large kereru, which feasts almost casually on the berries of the tree not more than a couple of metres from the many humans who have a look.

We went down to "our beach" with three boogie boards for four children at high tide. I was in the water with the children and tsuken wielded a camera. I have seen one or two of the shots he has taken, and he has captured well the pleasure, excitement and sheer joy of the children in their play.

Additional: I have put into my blipfolio, an alternative approach to the sunrise, which almost was my choice for today