The sunrise this morning was simply breathtaking. The sun slowly slid above the horizon shining soft orange light across the sky as it climbed behind a bank of clouds. The waves crashed on the shoreline and created small waterfalls as it slid back out to sea. Truly an idyllic scene. It looks so peaceful now, but the morning was far from it…
It was dark when I pulled into the large parking area beside a fishing pier. I had picked out exactly where I wanted to shoot from the previous afternoon and pulled up close by and parked along the edge of the road. I watched for a while as the sky began to lighten and got out to setup my camera. After mounting it on my tripod and closing the tailgate I figured I had better lock the vehicle. I set the tripod down alongside the car and opened the door to grab the keys. CRASH! I had managed to catch the corner of the door on the tripod leg, sending it toppling over onto the rocks beside the road. I looked over to see the camera lying face down minus a lens. Well, it had part of the lens. The drop has sheered the front of it off at the base. I groped around in the dark and managed to find the other half. Luckily I had the lens hood on and there was no damage to the front element. I collected myself and packed away the damaged lens and mounted another. At least the morning wasn’t ruined!
The shoreline was covered with sharp volcanic rock so I gingerly made my way down closer to the sea. The waves furiously crashed against the shore sending me scurrying back a couple of times until I came to a safe spot to frame up my composition. I got setup just in time as the sun drew closer to coming over the horizon. Just as I started to fire off some shots, I hear a horn honking. I looked up to see a security officer parked behind my car. I wave at him and turn around to keep shooting. He honks again and when I turn around this time, I see that he is standing on the side of the road. I can barely hear him yelling over the crashing waves. He is pointing at my car and I make out that he is telling me to move it. I waved at him, yelled to him that I would be there in a minute, and turned around to keep shooting. I couldn’t do anything about it now. I was busy shooting! I made him wait about five minutes until I got this shot and slowly climbed up the rocks to the car. He wasn’t happy at all. Seems like he thought I was parked in the middle of the road even though you could fit two semis beside the car. Too bad he had such a bad day, because I at least salvaged a great one!
Click on the image to view a larger version in the galleries.