Getting Away at the Outer Banks (3 of 41 for Jockey's Ridge State Park)

So, I have slacked on this, I will admit. I have been delving into a photography class, as well as a few other things like trying to get into wedding and portrait photography, so this post might be a little long!

I have never been to the Outer Banks. It is only about 4 hours from where I have lived my whole life, but a family trip never happened there and honestly I did not pay much attention to the idea of going. For most of my life it was just 'another beach' in North Carolina.

So when I decided to take a trip down a few weeks ago, I loaded up my gear and looked up a few key places I thought I would want to shoot. I was blown away by the entire experience. From the remoteness that the OBX (that's a common abbreviation of the Outer Banks for those not from the area), to the lighthouses, to the sand dunes, there is just SO much there to see and visit. I did the usual people do when they go, Bodie Island Lighthouse, Hatteras Lighthouse, Kill Devil Hills, It was all absolutely gorgeous. I also discovered the utter hell that walking sand dunes can be at Jockey's Ridge State Park. I got a healthy album of shots, although some places near Hatteras were pretty flooded from rain so I did not get as many as I wanted, and knew nighttime stuff was out of the question for the time being. But as I was driving down Hwy 12, the main single road connecting the islands around 4am to catch some sunrise shots near Jeanette's Pier...I looked up through my sunroof.

I've never seen as many stars in the night sky in my life. I was fascinated. I knew that in a few weeks I would go back and try my hand at some astrophotography, and maybe some other sunset/sunrise shots in different locations. (my least favorite part of sunrise/sunset photography is how you can only do 1 a day at 1 location...I know that may sound obvious, but it is frustrating nonetheless.)

I came home and felt the itch to go back almost immediately. I stymied it and put some work into researching wedding photography. (expect a post about all of that and my plans coming up!) and managed to snag a good deal on a Canon 5D Mark III which was super exciting, as I have long wanted a full frame DSLR to shoot with. I now owned a camera that could handle low light extremely well...

First a little background. I am an educator. So when our governor made the announcement about schools in the fall, I knew I needed to get away from all that and remove myself from the stress and negativity on social media for a few days. So I raced the sunset and drove back to the OBX and spent the night outside taking shots of the stars and the Milky Way.

Capturing the Milky Way over the Bodie Island Lighthouse was a surreal event. If you have never had the pleasure of doing something similar, Go. Do. It. Seeing the galaxy sprawling through the night sky really puts your mindset into perspective and reminds you how small and insignificant we truly are outside of this planet we call home.

When I first went I booked a hotel room and stayed near the Hatteras lighthouse. It was a decently cheap room, but to be honest I did not sleep very much, and it kind of felt like a waste of money. The second time I went I shot night skies until roughly 4am and knew I was so close to sunrise I had to stay. So I drove back to Bodie Island and slept in my car for a whole hour (wow!, lol). But I would say it was worth it as evident below.

Seriously, if you have never been to the OBX, try to make it out there, I promise you will not be disappointed. But something you may miss (I know I did the first time) is the Alligator Wildlife Refuge on US 64. It is about 20 minutes or so before you get to Manteo if you are heading east. One the way back this morning, on a whim, I turned down the gravel roads to check it out. Miles and miles of drivable roads stretch through the wilderness, so it is very accessible to everyone.

I saw the 'do not feed bears' sign and chuckled. Bears -- yeah right. Fast forward 2 hours later and I said seen 14 different bears, ranging from cubs, mothers, to even big males weighing hundreds of pounds. I had never realized how super skittish bears where. You're always taught how confrontational and dangerous they are --and, they can be-- but every one that I saw just wanted to be left alone. I also met some interesting people, like the nice Australian couple with nature photography gear. (Jealous, by the way.), or the local couple who told me how they had been coming out to the refuge for 20 years. Sadly, I did not come out of there with great wildlife photography to share, because I do not really have the appropriate gear for it. (yet?) I did however get to experience some true nature and see bears going about their way, gorging themselves on crops near the edge of the trees and being generally lazy. (relatable) I admired them from a distance, as I was told it is mating season, and getting mauled by a bear was not something I planned on doing anytime soon. I might consider renting a 600mm lens and trying again sometime though!

The thing that my new passion for photography has taught me is something I had put off for a pretty good chunk of my adult life so far...Go out and DO something. Drive somewhere you've never been. Literally google it and just pick one near you. Go experience Nature, go experience Life. It's easy to get stuck in your house, or in your job, or behind a screen while everything else passes you by. There is SO much to see, and I wish I had realized this sooner. So if anything, I hope I can help someone realize that. You can own this or that but you can't create long lasting experiences and memories that stick with you a lifetime.

Until next time.