A walk at the beach

Most of the time I lived not very close to the sea. From the Philadelphia area it was of course easy to plan a quick 2 hour ride to the Jersey shore mostly in the summer. Now, that I live relatively close to Cape Cod it is easy to pick up my camera and head out to the shore whenever the possibility exists. Sometimes it is already later in the day. The type of weather does not really matter either taking advantage of another opportunity to experience mother nature and learn a new practical aspect about the camera and how to handle it under various conditions.

Head of the Meadow BeachTruro – Cape Cod – – An interesting Winter afternoon at the beach.

Head of the Meadow Beach – Truro – Cape Cod – -It was a very interesting day at the beach

Cape Cod Light – Truro – Cape Cod, Catching the last rays of light to take a few photos

These photos are the result of a visit to Head of the Meadows Beach in Truro, Cape Cod, a couple of days ago. In brief, 19F (-7C), strong winds, flying sand, occasional snow, rough seas, later in the afternoon, fading daylight. Taking a glove off for a few minutes to adjust camera controls was almost impossible.

Beach photos: 80mm, ISO 200, 1/20s, f/14. I wanted to bring out some of the details capturing the flying sand still providing some contrast above snow patches while not washing out the surface.

Light House: I took the photo of Cape Cod Light right after sunset. Trying to get a few photos in before returning home I rushed to the light house from the nearby parking lot. The small red stripe on the horizon left by the setting sun complemented by the lights of Provincetown was a peasant surprise when I turned around to position the camera. It was already mounted on a tripod and just needed to be pointed into the desired direction cutting down on adjustment time without gloves. Despite the freezing wind operating in almost complete darkness, a couple of somewhat decent photos resulted. 31mm, ISO 200, 1.3s, f/5. The high winds were not particularly helpful in keeping the camera still even on my very stable tripod.

Why this effort? Taking photos at very cold conditions yields sharp and clear images especially when shooting across long distances. Winter also offers opportunities to observe a different type of nature which can be challenging, however, very enjoyable. It feels very rewarding having the opportunity to develop a photo surrounded by a rough, greenish-grey sea with roaring waves, winds and snow-covered dunes on the other. I guess in three to four months this place will be home of sun bathers and vacationers. Most of them completely unaware of the annual shore rejuvenating winter drama erasing traces of a previous year.

Your thoughts and comments would be very appreciated. Thank you very much.