Before sunrise
This series of images shows a sunrise over the River Crouch in Essex. The Crouch is a tidal river that runs from the North Sea at Burnham on Crouch to Battlesbridge. The images were captured on 6th January 2022. Firstly, there are two images captured before eight o’clock and before the sun rose. We see the dark chocolate coloured mud, a strip of promise in the form of yellow light and the shades of blue remaining from the night sky. These shots show Clements Green Creek. Images will follow in chronological sequence.
Before sunrise 1. Dark shapes and the night sky with a strip of yellow light 
Before sunrise 2. This one shows the bend in the river 
Just poking up, the sun arrived at six minutes past eight, silhouetting the walkers and lighting the mud flats 
The mist layers the landscape as the ball of the sun comes up 
This long shot shows a partially emerged sun, two walkers and a flock of birds silhouetted against the golden sky 
The sun is now well and truly above the horizon 
The sun is now large enough to reflect in the mudflats 
Aspects of the landscape dodge in and out of the mist 
Mist in the fields by the river caught in the first light of day
Sunrise over the Crouch
The third image shows the sun just emerging over the hill somewhere near Ashingdon. Perhaps a fifth of the globe is visible, however it has already lit up the sky. The fourth image uses the power of the 300mm lens to zoom in so that the sun is bigger. Also, we see the church a Ashindon, two walkers and the mist around the distant river. Less than a minute later, the fifth image shows that a flock of birds has been disturbed in the distance. They are silhouetted against the orange sky in addition to the walkers.
The sun continues upwards and now clears the hill to show the whole globe. Next we move the focal length back. The sun becomes diffused in the clouds and it also reflects in the mudflats of the creek. Its low tide and its possible to see the extent of the river as a shallow bowl carved out of the land by the water.
Misty fields
The final two images show fields that lie between the inlet that is Clements Green fen and the River Crouch 400 yards behind it. The mist has congregated in lines across the landscape here. The fields are low lying land and additionally have water on both sides of them. One image shows contours of the land drifting in and out of the mist, whereas the other has long fingers of mist. The sun gives the mist in both of these images a lovely yellow tint. Sunrise over the Crouch was well worth getting up early for.