Seashores and Sunrises

It was Saturday afternoon. I had just awoke from a nap around 5pm. Groggy, I sat up and said "You know what...I think I'm going to go to the beach." I quickly checked my gear to make sure batteries were charged, grabbed a change of clothes, and hopped in the car.

I drove down to Wilmington, NC and headed for Wrightsville Beach. I have lived less than 2 hours from the beach my entire life, yet I have not even been in over 7 years. I'm not sure why, I love the beach. I do not mean swimming and the touristy parts of the beach, I just love the environment. The breeze, the sun, the sound of waves lapping up on the beach; it is just such a peaceful place. I sat out on the beach while the sunset behind me over the sound, and stayed until around 9:30pm. I grabbed a hotel room, stopped at the Waffle House across the street for some hash browns, and checked photo pills to see where and when the sun would be rising in the morning. 6:03am.

I knew I wanted to shoot at the Coquina Outcrop down at Kure Beach. It is a fascinating place, 'rocks' formed by clumps of shells and surface exposure, and is the only such place in the North Carolina where this happens. So I checked out around 4:30am so I could get down to the location by 5:00am in order to set up and try to catch some of that pre-sunrise light.

The shots went really well. It was my first sunrise, so there where a lot of experimentations about F stops, ISOs, and shutter speeds. I spoke with a few friendly locals about the damage to that area in the last few years with all the hurricanes. Beach locals, by the way, are some of the nicest people, and their willingness to casually chat with outsiders on the beach really says a lot about either the type of people that live at the beach, or the effect living at the beach has on people, I am not sure which...

I hung out around the Ft. Fisher area a little while and got some shots, although many of the places where closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, and then headed into downtown Wilmington to the riverwalk. I have never been there, it's nothing spectacular, but it was a great place for photography, allowing me to take some macro shots of flowers and a few 'street photography' style shots. (I really wish there was more of these places in NC to do this style of shooting). After that I took the small trip down to Southport for a place that was more quaint and hometown feeling. Got some great shots of the geese and small pier area down on the bulkhead. Again, friendly locals and great atmosphere.

After doing all that, it was only 10:30am. I probably should have stayed longer, or head out to some different beaches, but I figured I'd save that for another time - it is never a bad idea to have an excuse to need to go to the beach. I think next time I will head a little further out though and visit the Outer Banks, a place I have only been to once in school during a field trip.

Until next time.