Barnegat Sunset

In celebration of our fabulous Presidents of past, we found ourselves with the day off, and a clear, crisp 28' winter day. I had heard the legend of the frozen rain that had hit the Jersey shore earlier in the week, so we packed up the gear and drove over to the shore in search of the trees encased in ice. Alas, it had warmed up too much this weekend, and no ice was to be found. Instead, found ourselves far south on the Jersey shore, close to Barnegat lighthouse. As the sun was setting, we bee-lined for some shots of the lighthouse at sunset!

The Barnegat light sits all the way at the end of the Long Beach Island, a pretty famous summer hangout for those looking for summer parties. As the sun set, the light at the top is visible all the way from the bridge over to the island. In doing some post-shooting history, I found that it's the second tallest lighthouse in the United States, at 165 feet.

It was windy and cold along the trails out to the lighthouse, and certainly would have been easier to just park out front and shoot with the sunset to my back. But I had an image in mind, the lighthouse set against a brilliant orange sunset that was forming. Which required us to park on a back street and hike our way out along frozen sand, against the wind. It's amazing how hard sand gets when temperatures are below freezing all winter!

As the sun continued to set, the light in the sky grew deeper and deeper orange, and the colors of the lighthouse itself faded into black. I started shooting quicker, and we headed quickly over towards the lighthouse itself. To my pleasure, I found that the beach wandered far enough around the far side to allow me to line up the towering lighthouse with the setting sun. And even better, a long raised pier stretched out along the far end of the beach, giving me a nice raised platform, dark rocks, and blue ocean to add to the photo mix.

At times like this, after driving for 4 hours looking for somewhere to shoot, the magic of photography came to mind. A blend of finding the right subject, with the right light, at the right time, and having the right equipment. Driving around mid-day, with harsh overhead light, bright bright blue skies, and only run down NJ diners around you, photographic opportunities look dim. But after a little more planning, we had a target, and a challenge to get there by sunset.

Then came the challenge of recording this alignment of location and light onto "film" (digital, actually). Fortunately warm gloves, fleece lined pants, and a thick jacket made the winter cold and winds bearable! Thank you for enjoying the results with me.

Frozen Delaware

Taken February 11, 2007

For the past few weeks, the outside temperatures in Bucks County PA have been well below freezing. By some strange twist of atmospheric heating and cooling, this has created a beautiful display of frozen ice sheets on the Delaware River. Quarter inch thick sheets have moved, frozen, melted, broken against each other, and in general created a mosh-pit of ice that makes for site rarely seen. The small sheets were pushed around and against each other, making for a landscape of pinnacles and valleys, smooth expanses and rocky terrains.

This shot was taken in Yardley, on the PA shore of the river. The small patch of river was a reminder of the very cold water flowing underneath the ice!

Driving north in search of more ice flows, I find the strange fact that the further north I go, the more the ice breaks up. I could guess that it's due to the depth of the river in Yardley and below, or the sality content, or even the mid-river islands creating a lesser expanse of the ice to form against. Whatever the case, got all the way up to New Hope without finding more than a bunch of overpriced real-estate and tourists on Sunday drives.

Figured I need to u-turn it, and try my luck south. Ended up back in Yardley, further south from where I started. Found a great boat launch, more shots of unique river ice scultpures.

Below Trenton, found a great bridge with ice flows leading up to it and only a small section of river flowing. By now the sun was lowering, and the light growing towards the magic hour.

I managed to find myself on the other side of the river, now on the Jersey side, just south of Trenton. I knew there was river access close to the Trenton Thunder ballpark, and I got lucky. Just south of it, a perfect boat ramp that now faced west, into the setting sun. Magic hour was upon us, and I was at river level.

I was alone on the ramp, right on the edge of the river. Loud cracks and pops were echoing everywhere, some loud enough to make me think icebergs had broken loose, some just soft enough to merge into the background as a symphony of sorts. The sun was setting behind on the trees on the far side of the river, and this surreal ice-spiked landscaped was mine alone. As the sun set lower, the tips of the ice spikes glowed pink against their ice-blue bases.

Thank you for joining me today, it was another beautiful exploration of the world caught on digital!