There is something about photographing Canberra at sunrise that makes the city feel completely different.
Before the traffic builds and the working day begins, Lake Burley Griffin can become almost perfectly still. On this morning, the first light was beginning to colour the sky behind the National Carillon, its reflection stretching across the quiet water.
When I made this photograph, I was also beginning to see my own future a little more clearly.
A Different Kind of Challenge
After moving to Canberra, I had taken on a new role in the Air Force. It was very different from much of what I had done earlier in my career.
For years, I had been drawn to roles that demanded quick decisions, operational knowledge and the ability to perform under pressure. I had always enjoyed being challenged, but this new position asked something different of me.
I was working alongside smart, motivated people from a wide range of professional and personal backgrounds. We were tackling complicated problems that rarely had simple answers. I needed to think critically, question assumptions and look at problems from different perspectives.
More importantly, there was room to think creatively.
I found that incredibly rewarding.
Rather than relying only on the skills and experience I had accumulated over my military career, I was learning new ways to contribute. Ideas mattered. Different perspectives mattered. Sometimes the most valuable contribution was simply asking a question nobody else had thought to ask.
For the first time in a while, work was giving me energy rather than simply demanding it.
Seeing Beyond the Air Force
There was another reason this period became important to me.
After spending so much of my adult life in the Air Force, imagining a life outside it was difficult. My career had shaped where I lived, the people around me, the challenges I faced and, to a large extent, how I saw myself.
But this role gave me a glimpse of something beyond that.
I began to understand that the skills I had developed weren't valuable only because I wore a uniform. The ability to analyse difficult problems, communicate ideas, work with diverse teams and think creatively could have a place somewhere else.
I didn't know exactly what that future looked like.
I certainly didn't know then how important creativity would eventually become in my life.
But for the first time, I could see possibilities.
Canberra at Sunrise
Photography continued to give me the space to process those thoughts.
Heading out before sunrise allowed me to step away from work, responsibilities and expectations for a little while. Behind the camera, I could slow everything down and concentrate on light, composition and the landscape in front of me.
That morning beside Lake Burley Griffin, the National Carillon rose above the water as the colour of dawn slowly spread across the sky. Canberra was quiet and the surface of the lake reflected the changing light.
Looking back, the photograph feels particularly fitting for that period of my life.
I wasn't ready to leave the Air Force, and I didn't have a plan for what would eventually come next. But I had begun to realise that there could be another chapter.
Like the first light appearing over the lake, it wasn't yet fully formed.
But it was there.
And for the first time, I could see it.