Featured Photo: Cape Hatteras Sunrise

Okay, it’s cliché — I know. But here’s a sunrise picture for the New Year, photographed at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina. For a little context: it was February, and it was bitter cold.

But otherwise this picture was fairly straightforward to make. After shooting some pre-dawn images, I set up nice and low to the ground to highlight the waves by making them relatively large in the frame. A slow shutter speed gave the wave a slight blur, suggesting motion; putting the horizon high in the frame helped emphasize the incoming wave.

Then it was just a matter of hoping the right wave came in when the sun came up. I think it did, and the reflection in the water helps draw the eye right to the sun, and a new beginning. Okay, sorry – that was a bit over the top. But Happy New Year, anyway!