Morning walk; Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2019
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.“ — Brene Brown
Posted to the Ragtag Daily Prompt | gratitude
Wharf, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Posted to Debbie’s Six Word Saturday challenge at Travel with Intent
Sunrise at Orakei Basin, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2016
Photographers love the ‘golden hour’ whether it’s in the morning or evening.
I’m a morning person, so I’d expected to have more sunrise shots in my archive. Surprisingly, that’s not the case.
What I did find though, is that my morning shots tend to have fewer traces of humanity in them — whether people themselves, or our planet-covering artifacts.
Housing development, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image; Su Leslie, 2018
Construction fencing silhouetted against the setting sun. Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
When Nature determines focus. misty morning, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Sunset, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2017
Sunset at Hobsonville Point, Auckland. The old air force base is now the site of housing development on a massive scale. Image: Su Leslie, 2016
Caught in the evening light. Disused hangar, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed and Stackables.
Hobsonville Point is a greenfield “community” being constructed on a former RNZAF (Royal New Zealand Air Force) base near where I live in Auckland. Its growth is rapid, with new roads and houses springing up daily. Within the development are a number of old buildings that formed part of the base — barracks, officer housing, hangars and workshops.
One hangar is currently plastic-wrapped and obviously being refurbished. Another — shown above — is fenced off and has workmen on site. Since February, the roof has been removed, exposing the building’s steel skeleton. I assumed the hangar was being demolished, but the Big T thinks the work is too careful. Perhaps it too will be given a second lease of life.
Either way, the daily change in its profile is fascinating to watch and photograph.
Morning mist. Disused hangar, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed and Stackables.
Skeleton beyond the wire. The sun sets behind a disused hangar, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed and Stackables.
Skeleton beyond the wire. The sun sets behind a disused hangar, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016. Edited with Snapseed and Stackables.
This post was written for Sally D’s Mobile Photography Challenge at Lens and Pens by Sally.
Prisoner of the dawn? Sun rise at Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015
I became a morning person somewhat unwillingly with the birth of my child. In those first days of 5am feeds and fretful napping I could not imagine there ever being a time when I could celebrate the sun rising, much less go out of my way to see it. But months and years passed; early morning crying was replaced by small hands on my face, patting me awake to request a story. Then came years of morning sports’ practices and rushing for early school buses, until finally the day arrived when 7am felt like a lie-in. Now of course, the boy-child can (and does on occasion) sleep until noon, while I stand on a motorway overbridge at 6am photographing the first blushes of colour to greet early-morning commuters.
Before dawn, and commuters are already moving around Auckland. Photo taken from Sinden Road motorway overbridge, Hobsonville. Su Leslie, 2015.
As the closest, east-facing bit of the harbour to my home, Hobsonville Point has become my go-to place for spectacular sunrises.
This morning, I arrived just before the sun came up and a low mist still shrouded the harbour. From the yacht club I could see south down the Waitemata towards Birkenhead; where sea and sky were indistinguishable and softly grey.
Gull in flight; Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015.
Although I could hear commuter traffic, it seemed muffled by the mist, and provided a bassline for the melody of lapping waves and the splash of a lone kayaker’s paddle.
Lone kayak on the harbour, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015
Rising sun, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015.
Rising sun, Hobsonville Point, Auckland. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015.
Today is a weekday, and there is a commuter ferry from Hobsonville Point to the city, but this morning there was no-one else around and the sun came up for an audience of one.
This post was written for the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge.
The sun rising over Larkings Landing, Beach Haven, Auckland. From Hobsonville Point.
The boy-child has now abandoned his photographic project involving sky trails, sunrises, late nights and ridiculously early mornings. I guess that means an end to those frantic drives across town wondering if we’ll make it to whatever beach he’s decided on in time to capture the intense colours of a new sun sliding up from the horizon.
I’ll miss those drives; fleeting moments of togetherness with a child who’s becoming a man faster than the night sky transforms into day (metaphorically, ok).
This week’s Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge theme is “fleeting”
Zimmerbitch 