Thursday 18 September 2014

Summertime Photgraphy Scavenger Hunt: The sunrise; my final find


Hi there.

It's definitely turning Autumnal out there, and as much as it pains me to do so ... that means the time's come for carefully wrapping summer in bubble-wrap and packing it away for another year.

And the same goes for the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt [admirably organised and hosted by Rinda at Gallo Organico each year.]  So, here's what became of my search for the 21st and final item on the hunt. The hunt for ...

No.13: A Sunrise

No.13 eh? Unlucky for some? Well ... yes, kind of.

You would think, wouldn't you, what with it happening every day and all ... that a sunrise might have been one of the easiest categories on the list of 21 items to find. But 'twas not so ...

During the height of summer the sun was rising around 4am and ... well ... I never quite got around to dedicating myself to the Scavenger Hunt cause quite that much! Plus, I kept telling myself that there would be plenty of opportunities to catch one later. [Because let's face it, if the sun didn't rise on another day, we'd all have a lot more to worry about than me finishing the scavenger hunt ...].

Then, as summer wore on, and the mornings became gradually darker, I decided to go for one last push and make the effort to rise early and catch that sun on its way up.

At 6.30am two Saturday's ago I got up, armed myself with a dressing gown and a camera and wandered to the window from which I thought I'd have a good view. The thing is 432,450 miles wide after all ...

... but there was no sun. Not even a glimmer. So I decided perhaps it was a little early ... and waited. And waited.

Now, I'm not suggesting that it was pitch black as I sat there; it was light. But there was no clear 'sunrise' visible; no rays, no hint of pink, orange or even washy lemon. Instead there was a bank of mist, heading in from the coast, diffusing the light and obscuring whatever sun there was.

And ever since that weekend, that seems to have been the pattern round here on these almost-autumnal-mornings; mist, fret and fog obscuring the hills every morning and only burning off - if we're lucky - in the afternoons. In fact over the last few weeks this ever-so-slightly-blushing sky below is the nearest I've got to capturing anything vaguely sunrise-y in the sky:
But you know me ... if I can't find the obvious photo that fits the category ... I'll just keep my eyes open for an alternative [like I did with No.3 Birds on a wire] and on another grey Saturday morning, which ended up turning into a bright and clear day at the seaside, this particular wrought iron design fixed to the sea wall caught my eye:
Here's the full scene:
And whether or not it's meant to be a sunrise, or a sun hiding from the crocodile from Punch & Judy ... I don't know. But I'm claiming it as my No.13 anyway!

But before the sun sets on my sunrise-seeking let me share with you a nice spot of serendipitous reading ...

... while I spent the season planning, and failing, to capture an actual sunrise, as time started running out I just happened to buy Mindy Kaling's[creator of The Mindy Project one of my favourite programmes at the moment!] memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me?  ...

... and what do you think I found right there in its introduction?
 And, these appropriate words of wisdom came from a book I read during the summer ... I'm going to argue that it means .... I DID FIND A SUNRISE after all!!
 
It just happened to be in words!  
 
And best of all ... I didn't have to get up at 4am to document it!
 
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Thank you Rinda for another inspiring list that has got me out and about snapping random things and sharing ideas with family and friends about what fits which category and where I might find one! It's been great, here's to summer 2015!
 
Julie
 
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p.s; I've extended the big stock sell-off I'm hosting on my Facebook page until 6pm on Sunday September 21st [I've been getting excited about all the shelf space your orders have helped clear so far ... and want to see if I can create more room by offering up all the bargain gift ideas/craft packs for a few more days. I've even reduced a few sale prices even further!]. Do have a browse if you get chance. :-)
 
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6 comments:

  1. Love your twist on the sunrise! I am woefully behind this year with about 8 photos to go. It's going to be a busy weekend if I am to capture them all!

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  2. Great twist...I was lucky with the sunrise..my dog wanted to go out early one morning and it was perfect timing with the sun schedule!

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  3. I've just witnessed another foggy dawn - I need to start looking laterally - love the sun art work

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  4. I like the kind of circular thing of a sunrise being last on your list of finds as the sun sets on this project.

    My favourite thing about Mindy Project? The opening music. One of those tunes I end up trying to hum along to, but find weirdly impossible

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  5. I'm so glad to have included sunrise on the list this year, as it led to some wonderful introspection. I still have to do a full post about my morning watching the sky lighten in what seemed to me like a reverse sunrise. And I love all 3 of your versions.
    Rinda

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  6. Now there are sunrises no-one else will have - I really like your creative and lateral thinking! Just brilliant ...

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