Just to recap: On Tuesday morning, 24 March 2015 I woke up before sunrise and headed alone up the hill to the top of Mt. Thesiger (Port St John’s – South Africa) at around this spot GPS: -31.603330, 29.527454. I spent the night before having a scrumptious seafood feast and filter coffee plus hot chocolate at @amapondobackers. I was photofit!
I set up my Canon South Africa camera (6D & Canon EF 17–40mm lens) and tripod in anticipation of the forthcoming sunrise. The river lodges were some 300 m or more below and I could faintly see their lights through the mist or low clouds.
It was calm, peaceful and dead quiet except for the medium-size predatory birds that were circling the mountain and squawking at each other. Every so often they would fly fairly close and it was amazing to hear their wings “woof – woofing” through the air.
The view across to Mt Sullivan on the other side of the river was glorious to say the least for about three minutes or less at one point of the sunrise. The sun then “disappeared” but not completely, although there was no more golden light forcing through the somewhat thick clouds.
The accompanying photo is a self-shot image using the camera’s 10 second timer.
If I’m looking a little tense and you wonder why I wasn’t doing some classic pose / holding a flashlight, then wonder no more. I sprinted 15 metres across rocks to get to my posing position, all the while trying not to trip and end up 300 metres down to the left. The “woof-woofing” birds flying around me were big enough for me to suspect they might be brave enough to try pecking my eyes out while I’m alive! Community of Port St Johns, Wild Coast
Settings F11, ISO 320 & 1/8 sec (-2 exp. comp.)
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Stunning photo. Well worth the effort put in to capture it. We just bought a tripod and remote for our camera and I can’t wait to try and capture moments like these.
Thanks Angela. Tripod and remote is a must have for long(er) exposures