"Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dew fall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the One Light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's re-creation of the new day

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word."

As sung by Cat Stevens.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZAsfB1Np-8

Tags:   Luminosity7 Nikon D850 Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Phillip Island Victoria Australia dawn early morning light seascape beach

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There's a story to this series that starts the night before. We arrived at Phillip Island with plans for a twilight shoot at The Pinnacles, an extraordinarily rugged spot where the coast meets a rough sea.

So we made our way down to the Woolamai surf beach to walk several kilometres to our spot down the beach and through a national park. It was windy, but no rain was in sight, so all seemed to be going to plan.

As soon as we got to the beach, however, all hell broke loose in the form of a sand storm. I'm not sure how you measure a gale, but it seemed like a Force 10. We were literally being sand blasted. That was it for me, I can can take personal punishment, but there was no way I would subject my camera and lens to nature's sandblaster!

We went to other places that evening and I got some nice shots of the fishing fleet at San Remo and a lovely pelican at Rhyll.

Since the weather didn't let up, plan B would have to put into operation. So at 4.30am I left my motel room and headed for The Colonnades. The advantage here was that I didn't have an hour's walk ahead of me in the absolute darkness.

The Colonnades is low-lying a rocky outcrop off shore, unfortunately it is only visible at low tide. Dawn this morning was high tide with the water lapping across the entire beach. These are the disadvantages of not being local.

As I made my way down what I thought was the path to the beach, I stumbled into a Shearwater (Mutton Bird) rookery. Offering a quick apology to the disturbed birds, I beat a retreat and soon found the right path down a steep set of steps to the beach. The wind was howling but there was no sandblasting this time.

I set up my tripod and camera and took the following photos.

Tags:   Luminosity7 Phillip Island Victoria Australia Nikon D850 dawn early morning light seascape beach blue hour

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One of my favourite Romantic artists has always been Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), and in particular his painting, "Monk by the Sea".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monk_by_the_Sea

I wondered whether this might be an opportunity at last to emulate his work in a photograph. Here is my attempt. Friedrich aimed for the sublime in nature, and I can think of no greater mission in landscape or seascape photography.

Tags:   Luminosity7 Nikon D850 Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Phillip Island Victoria Australia seascape dawn beach Caspar David Friedrich sublime nature clouds

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The Colonnades might have been under water, but the sea, sky and the quickly changing light still provided me with plenty of material.

Tags:   Luminosity7 Nikon D850 Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Phillip Island Victoria Australia seascape beach early morning light wild seas clouds

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As it grew lighter, longer exposures became shorter. I wasn't about to fit a neutral density filter in these conditions, so it was a matter of playing with exposures in the camera. At the same time the tide was in retreat.

Tags:   Luminosity7 Nikon D850 Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Phillip Island Victoria Australia seascape beach wild seas tide clouds

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