Return to Kauai

I woke up before the sun again, drawn back to the same stretch of Kauai coastline that had already given me one sunrise this trip. I told myself I was just going for the walk, coffee in hand, but I think I knew I'd end up with the camera in my lap. There's something about this island that doesn't let you settle for one good morning. I sat on the rocks in the dark, listening to the waves before I could even see them, and waited. Little by little the horizon started to glow, the clouds shifting from grey to pink to this deep gold I hadn't seen the first time around. I remember thinking that no two sunrises here are ever really the same — the light moves differently, the sky makes different choices. This shot is what happened when I gave Kauai one more chance to surprise me, and it did.