One of the highlights of our time along Lake Malawi came on the day when I braved a 4:45 am alarm clock to watch the sunrise over the lake. I crept out of the tent to not disturb Hannah or our other campers. I even took care not to trip over the group that partied at the bar until well past 1 am, almost making me forgo my early rise.
I resisted kicking the few that were too drunk to make it back to their tents and now lie on the bar floor as I walk past making my way to the beach. A few moaned in protest as my flashlight passed over their faces in my attempts to avoid them. Once I was past the drunks and my feet were in the sand I was glad I made myself get up and dig my camera gear out.
I set my DSLR on top of my large tripod to shoot long exposures before the sun crested the horizon, and I had my GoPro set up on another small tripod and set to time-lapse mode. Once the sun was about to break over the water and mountains I put my DSLR on a 5 second time interval for a close and higher definition time-lapse of the first few minutes of the day’s sun. The above video starts with the wide shot taken from the wide-angle GoPro, and the second it the DSLR footage was taken at 270mm focal length.
The sun was a fiery orange that morning with pinks, purples, and oranges in the sky. There were a few clouds, but I think the added to the interest of the sunrise.
In addition to the time lapses, I took several long exposures to catch the low light colors of the pre-dawn sky. Most were taken at 30 seconds and between f8-f11 in shutter priority or manual mode.
While waiting for the sun to poke over the horizon I also got a chance to see the beach come to life with fishermen and village people preparing for the day.
I am usually more of a sunset type of a person, but they are just more convenient. I think sunrises are more colorful. Maybe I will try and make it to more of them.
If you’re looking at taking a safari on your own, we cannot recommend Acacia Africa enough.
*We would like to thank Acacia Africa for inviting as guests on such an amazing opportunity. As always, the content & opinions expressed here are entirely our own.*