The minutes till sunrise... and a little time after that (a celebration of life)

~ Life is a celebration of beauty, let me share some of it with you... ~ Kilifi, Kenya - 15th of July, 2017

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~ 6:05 am ~

Tired and barely awake, we arrived at a cliff overlooking the ocean. As we make our way to the edge and sit down, the sound of the powerful waves crashing into the rocks below us drowns all other sounds. This wil be our soundtrack for the next hour.

As our eyes scanned the horizon, we saw more clouds than we had anticipated, making us fear the possibility of a disappointing sunrise.

~ 6:06 am ~

Twenty minutes before the spectacle is due to begin, I take my camera and began to browse the scene infront of me in search for possible compositions.

I am intruiged by a small collection of rocks which petrude from the shallow ocean floor below me. Their dark color stands out from the glissening ocean around them. I decide that they will look better on camera in a few minutes, so I return to sit next to my partner as we continue to watch the skies around us.

~ 6:11 am ~

I return to this scene to capture the photo which I imagined five minutes before. I hope to capture the motion of the water while also maximising the amount of light in the shot. To achieve this, I take a 1 second handheld exposure, taking care not to move my hands while the sensor on my camera does its magic. The result is captured below.

~ 6:14 am ~

We sit on the grass, hand in hand, and watch as the horizon begins to catch the first light of the morning. The large clouds which we earlier thought might thwart the sunrise now start to fill with color...

~ 6:15 am ~

Our eyes meet in a long and loving gaze. I think of the journey which took us here; two years of love, friendship and adventure, all working together to bring us to this moment. To my home in Africa, for the first time, together.

I feel honored to be sharing this moment with her, she is my sunshine.

~ 6:27 am ~

Ahead of us, the sky has made all its preperation for the final show down. I stand up, camera in hand and ready to capture this moment. The sky fills with color, as an orange orb of light begins to rise from where the sea meets the sky.

~ 6:28 am ~

The countdown turns to zero and the wait is up.

~ 6:29 am ~

The sun burts into view and illuminates the world infront of it. We instantly feel it's warmth and are reminded of its awesome power.

The day has begun.

~ 6:28 am ~

As quickly as it arived, the sun slips back behind some clouds cover on the horizon.

~ 6:33 am ~

We smile as we talk about what we hope to do in the day ahead. Every day in Kenya together has been an adventure thus far and deep down we know, these are memories which we might cherish forever.

We take a few moments to appreciate and celebrate the beauty around us.
~ We are infinitely lucky to live in such a beautiful world. ~

The time is 6:35am . We get up off our perch on the side of the cliff and begin the journey back home. I think this will be a beautiful day.

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Until next time,

Tristan