Photo Apr 12, 11 31 22 AM
Taken on my first sunrise trip out to Bull Island on the cost of SC.
Taken on my first sunrise trip out to Bull Island on the cost of SC.
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May, 2015Views
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2020 Choice Award
Superb Composition
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Boneyard Beach on Bulls Island, a part of the Cape Romain NWR just north of Charleston, SC. I had just gotten my first "real" camera and trying to learn how to use the different functions on the camera in my living room just wasn't enough. I wanted to be somewhere beautiful where I would see the results of various setting tweaks almost right away.Time
This photo was taken at 6:15 am. I remember having to wake up that morning at 4:00am to drive to the dock. From there it was a 20 min ferry ride out to the island in the pitch black. Then about a 10 min ride in the back of a truck to get out to the beach by about 5:45am. But the experience was well worth the effort.Lighting
Other than the pre-dawn glow on the horizon, there was no light. But that was enough and with no other light sources, the pre-dawn glow reflecting on the wet sand was amazing.Equipment
I took this photo with a Nikon D3300 on a tripod. The lens was an 18-55 set at 24 mm and f/13 with a 15 second exposure time.Inspiration
My day job is being an Architect and I do a lot of work with the National Park Service. So, I get to go to some very beautiful places which inspired me to start taking photos other than those specific to what I need for work. I am also an early riser and love sunrises. Sunrises on the beach are even better - with the sun coming up and the tide having washed away all evidence of the previous day signifies a new start. Another opportunity to start again. For this specific image, I had heard about how amazing sunrise was on this beach and access is restricted. So, with my new camera in hand, it was an opportunity to capture an experience that not everyone gets to witness. It lets me share these amazing places with friends and family.Editing
As I mentioned earlier, I was very in-experienced at the time. So, post processing was very new to me. When reviewing the photos from that morning, this one initially seemed unusable. But I began to realize how wrong I was as I started trying to figure out all the aspects of the image I could adjust. I eventually got it to an image that reminded me of just what I saw on the beach that morning.In my camera bag
Right now, being relatively new to photography, I only have a Nikon D3300. With that I have an 18-55 lens and a 70-300 lens - both Nikon that I always have in my bag. The 70-300 was an upgrade from my previous zoom. It is a little heavy and it is not easy to keep still when fully extended. But it gets me close and lets me shoot up close detail when I want to during times when actually getting up close is not feasible.Feedback
Dawn is a great time of day, but you need to be prepared to get up early. It also helps if you can scout the location ahead of time. I could not do that with this image, but I have been able to at other times and it helps to get a sense of the area and what you may want to focus on when it is time to shoot. I also use an app called The Photographer's Ephemeris. It is great because you can set a location where and when you will be and it tells you where to expect the sun to come up. I no longer have to worry about getting out to a location and having the sun come up in a completely unexpected location.
