It always takes a bit of an effort to get up for sunrise, but most of the time it’s definitely worth it. On this particular morning, I had a day off of work and woke up to catch the sunrise at the Rippon winery which is just a few minutes out of town from Wanaka.

The location of the winery is hard to beat and the vineyards make perfect rows along the edge of Lake Wanaka. The building where you can taste wine and rent for functions is then up on a small hill overlooking part of the vineyard and has a perfect view out towards the lake and Ruby Island just off of the shore. I was standing just below that building when I took this one.

To me, this photo is a good example of why the time of day and the light is usually the most important part of a good photo. This one wouldn’t be nearly as unique if there wasn’t the purple hue in the sky and over the water cast from the rising sun.

I’m not much of a wine drinker myself, but I do love a good vineyard and this kind of place makes me was to take up wine drinking just because.