Happy Summer! I was looking back through my old blog posts and realized that I hadn't posted Outer Banks photos in a loooong time! I'm not sure how that happened, but I will be taking the time this summer to share plenty of Outer Banks photos with you. It is a gorgeous place to photograph and not sharing my images is just not right.
This post will focus on my time in the Outer Banks this past June. This year, I added a new lens to my collection that enabled me to capture images that I hadn't been able to before. I now have a Tamron 100-400 telephoto zoom lens. I LOVE this lens. It has been incredibly helpful in photographing the wildlife around the OBX and getting some interesting crescent moon shots.
But I digress......The photos below are shown generally in the order I took them during my time in the OBX.
The first couple of days in the OBX we had rain, rain, and more rain. It's not ideal when you're on vacation, but the benefit is getting some reflection pictures!
Rain can also give way to pretty sunsets. The house we rent is right on the Sound, so we have uninhibited views of the sunset every night.
If I were to ask you think of a beautiful or majestic bird, the seagull is probably not the bird that comes to mind. I have heard them described as the "rats of the sky." I still had fun practicing tracking a subject with my new lens (which was REALLY heavy).
If you've ever been to the OBX, you have probably seen the Ghost Crabs scuttling around on the beach. I do find them entertaining to watch, myself.
More fun with reflections, although this one isn't thanks to the rain, just the ocean wave receeding.
The OBX is so open, I take so many panoramas to try and capture the expanse.
In Maryland, we have the Blue Heron. In the OBX, the herons I saw were white. I was in a Kayak when photographing this guy (and a couple others). There was no way I could have gotten this close to him by land.
This guy was fun to watch, and no where near a skittish as the Heron, so I was able to get fairly close to him.
He is a Cormorant. I did eventually scare him off, but he was chill with me for a while. I approached very slowly. I would paddle twice, take a picture, paddle a little more, take a picture, etc. Slow process, but rewarding!
Kite surfing is the sport of choice in the OBX. These guys were definitely showing off in front of our house for a little while. Synchronized jumping is always fun!
The Rodanthe Pier. I put the camera as close as I dared to the water to tray and get it in the foreground and some sunrise reflections in the water.
The combination of ocean waves and sunrise lighting make experimenting with long exposures a fun challenge. From the start of Golden Hour before the sunrise, you have an hour or less to play with this technique before you have too much light to make it work.
The full sunrise.
Would you believe me if I said I shot this with a drone camera? I didn't, but I could have! I was on top of the Rodanthe Pier, pointing my camera straight down, making sure to not get the pilings below me in the shot.
Crescent Moon. Did you know that a Crescent Moon can be called "God's Thumbnail" ?
Sun going down, allowing the moon to shine brighter.
Pelican! I have photographed these guys in flight in previous years at the OBX, but this was really fun to photograph him on the piling. He didn't like me much, though and took off fairly quickly.
This is a vulture with a red-winged blackbird. The way they were sitting side-by-side on the railing reminded me of Mufasa and Simba sitting and looking at their Kingdom (everything the light touches).
Then the vulutre turned around and very clearly gave me "the look."
While Kayaking, I went exploring through some shallow channels. One of them had hundreds of snails positioned on the reeds growing in the water. I hate to admit it, but I LOVED photographing these little guys.....
Every snail had its own composition within a photo. Each one felt so different. Plus, you know, reflections!
Post-storm rainbow!
The sun was melting into the water!
Another ocean-side sunrise :)
As the sun was rising, a surfer went out to catch some waves. I had a good time capturing images of him on the waves with the sun in the background.
Oh, the pidgeon. Another example of a NOT-majestic bird.
But, I still enjoyed photographing him :)
Underneath the Rodanthe Pier. The sun was creating striking shadows of the all the pilings under the pier. Then the person in the back stepped into the perfect placement.
Sinking sun again! And if you look closely, there are two kayaks in the water., watching the sun set from their spot on the water.
This is always one of my favorite compositions. With everybody using their phones to take photos, their photo is easily seen on their screen. Then I take a picture of their picture. Photo-inception!
(yes, I love that movie)
So beautiful. ❤
This is the view from our back porch.
*sigh*
Till next year, OBX.
📷
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