The photo above is uncropped and unretouched – taken on one of my morning photokayak (new term) excursions. Anyone guess what it is? If you give up, click here for the answer:-)

Photokayaking usually takes place about 5:30 in the morning as it is just getting light. By 6:30 the magic has gone. Early on a good day the coming sunrise casts a soft pastel tint on the clouds and usually the wind has died down creating glassy reflective water. The birds are awake, chirping in the bush. Herons and ospreys are out foraging for breakfast. Gulls and terns fly overhead.

Except for the birds the only other sounds are the lap of water against the bottom of my inflatable kayak, the swoosh of the surf, and the occasional splash of fish feeding in the lagoon or a shower of minnows arcing out of the water. Actually there is quite a lot of noise, but it seems silent. No engines, no voices, nothing artificial except the click of my Nikon.

Occasionally the photo ops aren’t there and then I opt to stow the camera in my dry bag and start paddling for exercise. The other morning I paddled nearly 2 hours before breakfast, circling the perimeter of the bay where AVATAR was anchored. Just guessing maybe covered some 6 – 8 miles with only one timeout for a rainbow photo op!

The slideshow below is a collection of recent results from my morning excursions. If I can get the Internet to cooperate I will eventually post a link to the high resolution slideshow here as well.

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