In 2017 I clocked up around 60 sunrise photo sessions as well as a handful of sunsets and daytime wanderings. That amounts to lots of great outdoor experiences, but there was a clear winner when it comes to my favourite morning of the year. I captured the above image from a remote rock outcrop in Gibraltar Range National Park back in May - I'd just scrambled up to this vantage point from my overnight camp after a somewhat difficult hike the previous day (read more here) and was immediately captured by the silence and beauty of the wild scene laid out before me. And it was my birthday!

Moments of bliss like that aren't too uncommon when you spend so much time chasing the sunrise - I can easily recall a dozen other occasions during the year when the spectacle of morning light on a natural landscape brought me to a standstill. If there was ever cause to question why anyone would willingly leave a warm bed to trudge along a dark beach or forest trail, these moments provide the answer.

So the selection of images below represent some of my favourite photographic moments of 2017 - they would have been memorable moments even if I hadn't had a camera with me, but as luck would have it, I did! I hope this short stroll though my photographic year inspires you to get out there and experience it for yourself.

Sunrise Surfer - Moffat Beach, Sunshine Coast. 

Soft morning tones - Point Cartwright

Grey morning - Shelly Beach, Sunshine Coast

Sunrise on the rocks - Moffat Head, Sunshine Coast

Meditation - Caloundra Head, Sunshine Coast

Above the falls - Boonoo Boonoo National Park

South Bald Rock - Girraween National Park

The Platypus Pool - Boonoo Boonoo National Park

Goomburra Forest - Main Range National Park

Morning waves - Moffat Beach, Sunshine Coast

Pastels at Pincushion - Pincushion Island, Sunshine Coast

Suburban surf - Coolum, Sunshine Coast

The Maelstrom - Pincushion Island, Sunshine Coast

Brand new day - Mudjimba Island, Sunshine Coast