Waking up at 6.45 am on Saturday morning, I saw that the sky was filled with a glorious, first-light glow. Immediately, I decided to drive to Wootton Creek to take some photographs for the IWDIG’s latest theme, water pictures. Visions of a mist-covered creek, delicately lit by the pre-sunrise radiance, filled my head.

In order not to wake my wife, I struggled into my clothes in the dark. Then I grabbed my camera and tripod and jumped into my car.

After a short drive to Wootton, I parked the car in a street near the old Boathouse Inn. Getting out, I discovered that it was too warm, too windy and too late. Too warm for mist to form, too windy for even the slightest trace of it to survive (had it formed) and too late because the technicolour glow in the sky was fading fast.

Undaunted, I waded through the vegetation towards the shore. At this point it became clear that one needs the right clothing for an early morning photo shoot in October (warmth and waterproof shoes are an absolute must. Even though it wasn’t cold, the wind chill factor was enough to make an Eskimo stay at home).

On the riverbank, I realised that I had made yet another mistake: when intending to take pictures of a tidal creek filled with water, make sure not to go at low tide!

Oh well, since I had made the effort to turn out, I decided to take a few shots of the rising sun glinting off the various puddles. So I carefully selected my spot, set up the tripod and camera and then stood shivering, waiting for crest of the sun to rise above the line of trees on the opposite shore.

After an eternity (about 10 minutes), the long awaited moment came! It was at this point that the battery on my camera went flat.

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