A confusion of clouds, lit by the rising sun, with a gull playing or searching for prey.

Not being by nature an early riser, I rarely observe the sun coming up in the east. But for reasons unknown, I opened my eyes on this remarkable morning to see a brightening sky populated by an intriguing clutter of clouds. Something told me I should pull on some clothes, grab my camera, and trek to a point of land from which I could look across Humber Bay toward the sunrise.

As it happens I never did see the sun itself, but the living sky compensated for that, populating her realm with high horizontal clouds and below them, low clusters of ragged puffs.

For a moment I thought the sun might break through, as streaks of yellow-white developed over the island. Though it remained obscured, its rays transformed the transparent edges of the clouds into a brilliant orange, while the thicker portions blocked the light, remaining black.

Meanwhile the water actively reflected the sheen of the clouds.

Suddenly, a bird wheeled in my direction, searching for breakfast or playing in the wind. In a moment, the gull strayed into just the right place in my frame, silhouetted in motion, and this I knew was the shot I would print.

It was the rarest of mornings.

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