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.