A door shuts each year when daylight savings comes into effect. For anyone who uses the daylight hours for after work recreation the line is drawn. Before long winter will creep in and bring with it long, dark nights. Most surfers in New Zealand have seen this coming. That extra bite in the water and the cool nip in the offshore breeze just a sign of more to come.
My reaction has been to revive the dawnie. In the pre-dawn darkness I have been stumbling around the house scrambling for a camera, a lens or two, a bite to eat if I am lucky, a wetsuit (usually cold and wet and still hanging in the tree where I left it the day before) and a board. Then I'll drive to some quiet peak along the coast, guided only by my imagination of what it might be like, and stand on the edge of the sea staring into the darkness trying to make out the shapes below. Black lines and white triangles are good. White noise and random shadows below: bad. Whether the surf is actually good is irrelevant. The light show of a new day is always an energising experience. Since I started Box of Light I have shot a lot of sunrises along our coastline, but the reveal of a new day will never grow old. Set your clock and make the most of our autumn light. Here's a few frames from last week to inspire you.
We still have a few places available on our Canon Collective Beach Culture Photography Workshop at Bethells Beach this coming Saturday – join us here.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS We have a hotdesk available in our Dowling Street, Dunedin, office ... UFB, power and ready to launch your business idea. Email us here.
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