It's getting to that time of year when the sunrise is at a more 'humane' time for me to get out of bed and down to the coast to capture it, which means autumn is on its way. The chill in the air this morning down at South Shields, re-enforces the pending season to come as I stood on the edge of an outcrop overlooking Trow Rocks waiting for the sun to give me some colour. Today is the day of the Great North Run, an annual world class half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields and the field behind me is crammed full of all the amenities required at the finish line of the race. But I am the only one on the beach and it feels like I could be standing alone on a remote Scottish Island listening to the waves while waiting for the light. Last night, I checked the weather forecast to see if it would be worth the trip out. Looking at the different cloud levels, I could tell that a cloud front was moving in from the West and would be stretching into the North sea but hopefully, not reaching the horizon at sunrise. That would leave a gap for the sun to shine its light under the cloud and, hopefully, illuminate the base of the clouds to give them that amazing orange pinkish light we all love.
And for once, my prediction were right! I could see the colour on the distance spilling out towards me and finally reaching over head just before the sun broke the horizon. Perfect. I knew that once the sun rose up, there would be a risk of some serious lens flare which could have spoilt any images I took, especially with all this sea spray about, so I opted to use one of the rocks to block it out but still retain the colour in the clouds behind.
Soon after sunrise, the colour faded into the grey of the clouds and I decided to make the short journey homeward before they closed the roads for the Great North Run. A great way to start a Sunday morning but I would rather race for a golden sunrise than a gold medal.
