The 2-cigarette method

Kia ora tatou:
I thought I would share this image with you.
I made it last Saturday morning on North Beach, in Westport.
I got up early, wanting to get a dramatic shot of the sun rising over the mountains, and drove down to the beach.
My friend Geoff Schurr came with me. When he woke me up, his first words were:
"Pretty crap day-you want to go back to bed?"
"No, we'll go anyway," I replied. Things have a habit of being other than expected. Or maybe I didn't want to miss the chance to get something....
When we got there, a southerly was blowing, and everything was grey and cold. Why bother, you might ask? Geoff certainly did ask that question. All I could say was-we'll wait and see what happens.
Rewind a few years...
From time to time I would go out photographing with my fiend (sorry, friend) and mentor, Richard Poole, who has forgotten more about photography than I will ever know.
He would park the car, get out and light a cigarette while he looked around. The camera would still be in the car.
When he was done, he might get out the gear. I had no idea what he was up to. Finally, having set it up, he would light another cigarette. Sometime after that he would make an image. Or two. Inevitably he saw things in the scene that would surprise me when I saw the final print. While I would rush round, hopping from opportunity to opportunity, he would work slowly and methodically.
After a while I began to get the idea.

What I learned was that you have to get to know what is in front of you.
And that takes time.
Some years ago, both of us did a workshop with Faye Godwin, the famous English landscape photographer. She said the same thing. Take time to get to know your subject.
And that takes time.
Fast forward.
Last Saturday I was reminded of this. At first I could see nothing. Everything was a monotone, but, as the light shifted, things unfolded subtly. I became more aware of the nuances of tone and colour in the light. I explored with the camera, chimping as I went.
I shot about 135 images in a small area of the beach, then we went back for breakfast, and the chance for me to see what I had got.
This is one of the shy images. Sure, it is quiet, but it took time to see it.
Ka kite ano