Institute of Photographic StudiesThe New Zealand Experience - November 9th, 2006
Beep, beep, beep... Freezing cold, birds singing, smells of salty ocean air. It's five fifteen, does the sun really come up this early? Do I REALLY want to shoot the sunrise? Crawling out of the tent, I was greeted with an orange glow appearing across the ocean. Perfect! I made my way to the camper with my sleeping bag tightly wrapped around me. Now for the challege—digging all of my camera gear out of the camper without disturbing seven sleeping girls.
The sun had come up a little more and the beautiful reflections of the mountains and the clouds in the water were creating beauty indescribable. I set my tripod up and and got out my camera, mentally going over all of the newly learned rules of capturing magnificent sunrises. Yes, Will, I changed my ISO and white balance. Aperture priority. Timer. That should do it. Now getting it framed right...
Getting up to shoot the sunrise this morning is probably going to be one of my highlights of my whole trip. It felt like it was just me, God and His amazing creation. I got some awesome pictures of it, which was well worth losing sleep over.
We got all of our stuff packed up just as it started raining and made the long trip from Ocean Beach to Maikanae. Stopping for a delicious lunch and a quick tour of the Arahina Training Center we arrived at our destination, El Rancho Christian Camp, just before dinner time. Great was the celebration over wash machines, dryers, and showers! We are learning to not take such things for granted. The day was brought to a close with cataloging images and enjoying the unity and fellowship that is developing between the group.
—Susan Tiegs from Minnesota, USA