The Begining

Skillion Sunrise

Let us begin with the picture that started it all when I attended a photographic workshop with Ken Duncan. Owning some of Ken’s prints, I was very keen and excited to attend the workshop with him.

We had spent time at other locations over the past days and this particular morning, we were to photograph “The Skillion”, a location I was extremely keen to photograph, as we own a print of this location. We walked from the hotel to the location well before dawn, and upon arriving, all the participants began finding vantage points they wanted to photograph from. After searching, I settled on a spot between some rocks with the cliff behind me.

I wanted to split the image in half, showing the rising sun just out of the frame on the left hand side, the water and land on the right hand side and the coast line leading the eye towards “The Skillion”, knowing it would catch the warm light of the rising sun.

As it was well before dawn, we watched the night surrender to the first rays of daylight coming over the horizon. The stars slowly faded, the night sky, changing from black to dark blue, then a deep purple and royal blue, whilst on the horizon, a thin red glow of colour slowly appeared, signalling, the sun was close.

As the sky lit up, the winds increased, something I have come to notice on many other photo shoots. There always seems to be a light wind just before the sun rises, as if to blow the night away. As the winds picked up, it provided a fresh breeze and the smell of the sea filled my nostrils, as I watched sun’s arrival.

I have since grown to love this moment in time, it never ceases to amaze me with its brilliance and silence. The moments between astronomical twilight and sunrise, brings a kaleidoscope of colour in the sky, the night, gives way to the smells and sounds of a new day, as the world around you wakes up, this time is mesmerising. I lost myself in the grandeur of the moment, standing silently, soaking it all in, however, I mentally came back to why I was there.

Ecstatic, I did what every new photographer does, shooting, as many images as I could, however the results were not to my liking. I learned my first lesson here, to slow down, be mentally present in the actual moment in time, to read and feel nature’s rhythm.

Nature has a flow about it, if we slow down and observe, we soon learn its rhythm, becoming one with it, which leads to being fully present in the actual moment. This brings clear focus, harmony and peace within yourself, allowing you to be a better photographer and perform better. This lesson, of being present in the moment, learning the flow of the moment, then acting accordingly, has helped me greatly, in many other facets of my life.

I soon picked up on the rhythm of waves, and set the camera to a 2 second delay, allowing any camera movement to settle, before the actual photo would be taken, ensuring the photo would be sharp. I settled into a rhythm within myself, calm and focussed, everything around me, soon disappeared, and it was only me and “The Skillion”.