The weather over the last few days here in Auckland has been quite mild, clear skies, cold at night but unseasonably warm during the day. Lovely conditions for a clear sky sunrise. Also the middle of winter so sun rise is at a respectable 7.36am.
Checking the Photographers Ephemeris web app I discovered that on Sunday the sun would rise between the point at the northern end of Waiake Bay and The Tor, which is a little island about 70 or 80 metres off the point.
Photographers Ephemeris screen grab for Torbay, Sunday the third of July.
The Tor is about 300 metres off the point on the beach that PE was pointing to as the best spot for viewing the sunrise and small enough that using a long lens (200mm) would give a relatively large Sun and enable framing the whole island. Driving over the Auckland Harbour Bridge at 6.30 in thick fog added an element of uncertainty and excitement as to what the effect might be on the pictures I was trying to make. The fog didn’t appear to be too evident when I arrived at the beach, The sky was a beautiful graduated deep blue to orange at the horizon.
I shot a few frames and then tried a few more with my Lee Big Stopper for long exposure shots to turn the water ripples smooth and creamy. This one was an exposure of one minute and 12 seconds at f14.
A fisherman in a Kayak passes through the frame making a nice stock image.
When the sun did pop up, the fog that hadn’t looked that thick before, glowed bright orange
Lee big Stopper filter again. Six seconds at f22 exposure.
Bonus shot of Rangitoto Island, also with the Lee Big stopper. 44 seconds at f22. All these shots, and a few more are available for licensing or as Photographic prints.
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