6am shot ... number three

I had it planned after yesterday morning in the City.  I'd been quite taken with the early morning light and the various lines and angles from the modern buildings that I'd decided my 6am shot today would be    close to where I took my shot of the plant in the concrete.  I knew where I was going ... but I'll say no more as I'll use this location for a future 6am shot!

The weather was not as I'd expected for my 6am shot at all, so the City shot was off.  It was pretty wet this morning so something else was required that didn't involve me getting too damp before work.  I liked the reflections on the road near to home, so my first shot was of house number 6.  I liked the glow from the street lamp, the curve of the road, the reflections on the wet road and the hint of blue on the early morning sky.  I didn't want to use a tripod - it was raining remember and I didn't want to be out any longer than absolutely necessary!  ISO 1600 let me shoot at f3.5 and 1/100sec.  It's a bit noisy in the sky, but I wasn't bothered about that.  Adds to the atmosphere ;-)

The second shot was taken from almost the same place as the first, but this time looking up the street.  Again, I was quite taken by the reflections on the wet road and pavement and the colours that aren't quite right first thing in the morning.

Shots taken it was back indoors, breakfast, bags packed and off to work.  On return from work this evening I noticed that I'd had the camera set to auto-bracketing which has resulted in some of my images coming uot a tad darker or lighter than they should.  Also the weather has improved since this morning ... it's now gloriously warm and sunny with a gentle breeze.  This just makes me think a 6pm shot may be easier to achieve both from being awake and favourable weather perspectives!

6am ... number two!

I awoke at 5am, and it was pretty dark.  Getting close to 6am it wasn't much better.  The weather has certainly changed as it's quite breezy and wet now.  Nevertheless, a 6am shot is required!  I'd decided to take a shot looking over Manukau City with the moody clouds and lights, but it was rather wet for me on my bike.  I'd decided to avoid waking the more sane members of the family who remained tucked up in bed.  Trying to open the garage door quietly was a mission and I reckon I made more noise avoiding the automatic garage opener than I would have done if I had.

Cycling to my intended lookout the rain started to come on a bit stronger.  A shot was required now before I got soaked.  Up a nearby street was a lamp post against which I could rest my trusty steed and get a shot.  6am, Hill Park, Manurewa.  One shot in the bag, but not what I wanted.

Back on the treadly and off to some local bush for a moody shot.  Still drizzling, and rather dark, so Plan B was canned in favour of a local historic building.  Sadly this really looked pretty grim as the light was so grey.  Off to the Botanical Gardens ... always a safe bet!

On the way I spotted an old water tower, so decided to take some shots of this.  It was pretty dark where I'd stopped ... mainly to avoid getting wet, but the tower had a mysterious look about it.  A quick shot at a high ISO first of all (I was happy to get a bit of noise as I felt this would add to the atmosphere of the shot and the camera doesn't do too badly at ISO 3200).

Did I mention it was damp, dark and I was in some bush?  You guessed it, home to hundreds of mosquitoes!  I was getting eaten alive by these little beasts.  Nine shots on the tripod so I could attempt an HDR shot at home, then I was off.  The rain was coming along a little stronger now as I raced home to sort out the bites and avoid getting too wet.  I have to say the bike makes quite a nice noise at speed with offroad tyres on tarmac!

So there you have it.  6am shot number two and I really did expend blood getting this one!

Bottom Lake (6 am)

Bottom Lake (6 am), originally uploaded by nzcjs.

Take a shot at 6am. This is the challenge. Not sure for how long I'll be able to do this, or how frequently. The idea came from Paul Smart of Maxam Photography. As I'm usually up and about close to 6am I thought this'd be a breeze. Yeah, right!

Yesterday's attempt failed miserably as I was so tired and just couldn't leave the cosiness of my bed. Today, however, I faired a bit better.

I rose at 5.30am and set some bread cooking. I'd had an idea of capturing some joggers running through Totara Park, but after getting the bread going I was a tad late. The sun was already up, but not too bright and some street lights were still lit. Realising that I wasn't going to get the joggers at 6am I started to shoot anything on the way that looked vaguely interesting.  I was taken by the reflection of the street light on the wet road ... better get something before it get's too late and I miss 6am again!

Crossing the motorway it struck me that you may like to see Auckland's traffic at 6am on one of the country's main state highways leading into the country's largest conurbation. State highway one just south of Manukau City.  Trust me, it's not normally like this!  Perhaps the annual exodus from Auckland has started early this year as people depart for their holidays.

At last I reached the bottom lake at the Botanical Gardens and thought this could be the place for the first shot. The water was very still and the clouds looked like an HDR shot could work.   This is the image at the start of this post.  A five shot HDR processed with default settings in Photomatix Pro.  (I didn't have time to do anything else and it looked pretty good.  Problems at work meant I had to head off to the office).

After taking my five shots for the HDR image I was looking at the water and noticed a few insects causing the odd ripple. Then I started to get wet! Typical Paul D Smart! Jinxed by the British project with British weather!

I may try another 6am shot next week. Let me know what you think of the images in this post.

Oh, on the way home I noticed Santa, rather worse for wear.  Somewhat deflated you might say :-)

 Comments, if you have any, below ...