I am not a morning person. Even after a good 8 hours sleep I will struggle to get out of bed (especially if it’s cold outside). I do, however, love being up before sunrise and taking photos at dawn. So I’m a little conflicted about mornings.
When there’s a good incentive to get up, I usually manage it. It’s nice to be able to say you’ve accomplished something before breakfast, and what better accomplishment than getting some bird photos? Especially a White-Bellied Sea Eagle in flight.
Every morning in Port Macquarie, Dad and I earned our breakfast, getting up between 6 and 7 to chase birds. We spent some time wandering around our resort, and some time out at Tacking Point, both of which were good spots for birds. Fortified with tea and coffee, we’d be out until around nine, when the hunger pangs would grow too great. A word of caution on striding around in the early morning without breakfast lugging heavy lenses – always take a bit of sugar with you. I learned the importance of having a contingency mandarin after staking out a Kite at the end of a morning’s hike around Tacking Point. It was warm, I was hungry, and my legs decided they weren’t going to carry on without some input from me and deposited me on the ground. Lesson learnt – even if you don’t feel like eating, take something with.
Monopods are fantastic. While not as steady as a tripod they are easily portable and great for added stability when your arms are giving up on the 200-400mm lens after a week of hoisting it every morning. Do be aware that it’s sticking out behind or beside you when you walk though – they’re not pleasant things to be whacked with!
Keeping the light behind you is something to always bear in mind in the morning. With the sun coming up, there will be deep shadow on the opposite side of whatever you are photographing, so keeping the sun at your back will ensure that you avoid losing detail in the shadow. Alternatively, you can over-expose to get a white sky, like I did in the above photo.
My tips for this week? Get up early, even if you hate mornings. Take a mandarin with you (or other delicious fruity thing). Use a monopod. Keep the sun behind you. Feel awesome that you’ve taken some great pictures while other layabouts are still in bed.
After next week I’m off to the UK for three weeks so I may be a little absent. I’ll try and keep updating if I can, but I’ll only post pictures of the trip once I get back.
