My family recently spent a week in South Carolina just off Hilton Head Island. The primary purpose of the trip was to visit my Dad and Stepmom and enjoy their home in Bluffton as well as the beaches of Hilton Head Island. We were lucky that my brother and his two young kids were also able to make the trip at the same time as us. The kids enjoyed the cousin time!
Whenever we travel, I look forward to exploring the nature and new photographic opportunities. With the kids, most of my photography was in the pool and the ocean, which mainly meant shooting with my new Go Pro Hero 5. But I also really wanted to get in a little landscape shooting.
Sunrise is always the easiest time for me to get out and shoot on vacation without being disruptive to family activities. It's tough to take the early alarm sometimes, but in addition to it working with family, it is a time of day that I love to be out taking in the quiet of the morning and watching the sunrise unfold. And no doubt, it is often the most rewarding when it comes to dynamic photo opportunities.
I watched the weather and looked for a partly cloudy forecast at night and in the morning and headed out at 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning. When I got in the car to drive the 30 minutes to the island, I could see stars above, so I wondered what I would find along the beach. Even as I drove, I couldn't see the sign of a spectacular sunrise, but when I walked onto the beach, I was greeted with amazing light and incredible colors!
With Friday morning turning out so beautifully, I tried my luck again on Saturday. It was a little tougher getting up to the 5 a.m. alarm after a later night out with the family, but I wanted one more morning on the beach and with my husband joining us Saturday morning, I figured I'd get it in before he arrived.
This time the colors weren't intense, and I was not sure how the sunrise would unfold but the clouds were full of texture and interest. I set up my tripod and took a few shots and waited as the sun began to rose. Not as vibrant as Friday, but still, such a beautiful scene.
So worth the early wake ups, I left the beach a bit wind blown and sandy, and very satisfied from my quiet time and fix of seascape shooting :)
I also managed to catch one sunset when we were at the beach before we headed home for dinner.
