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Late last Summer, and into early Fall, I had this really nasty bug. It was the go to the ocean and take pics of the sunrise bug. I finally did it in late September. I went to Salisbury Beach and got my pics. I was pleased.
I’m getting the same bug again. This time Hampton Beach is calling me. The weather had better warm up soon.
Hurry up, weather! Jerk.
Every weekend night at bed time for the last few months I’ve been checking the weather forecast for Salisbury Beach. Any time it called for clear skies I would tell my beloved wife that if I found myself awake about an hour before the sunrise I was going to make the half hour drive to the beach and take a few pics. The idea was to have sunrise pics to complement the sunset pics we took at Mission Beach in San Diego last year. Because, you know, I am a total dork like that. It never happened. I even set the alarm clock a couple of times, but I just never got myself out of bed.
This morning I woke up at about 3:30am and never fell back to sleep. The forecast called for clear skies. At 5:20 or so I figured, I’m awake anyway… what the hell, right? I also needed to be up early to take the Nissan to the dealer for some routine work. So I just did it. I went to the ocean and snapped some pics.
Here’s a good chunk of them.
I was there with about 20-25 minutes to spare, and the sky was bright enough to see without any trouble. I killed time by snapping waves and sand and everything.
Check out that sky. I mean, right?
I wasn’t the only nerd on the beach. There was a couple to my right who were posing a stuffed animal in front of the ocean. There was another group of three people hanging out to my left who were just visiting and waiting for the sun to arrive. There were also some folks out on the water, apparently.
I mean, the sky, am I right?
Even though the sun still hadn’t come up yet, I was digging the way the sky reflected off of the wet sand.
The Atlantic may be a total wimp compared to the Pacific, but she still snuck in a few decent waves.
The birds are flying South for the Winter. The jerks.
This guy doesn’t seem to be in a rush to get down South.
I guess there was stuff behind me too.
There’s one little spot on the horizon that’s getting brighter…
…Is that the sun I see?…
…Yes! There she is!
The guest of honor.
Good morning, Massachusetts!
One thing I remember about our Pacific sunsets is that the sun was not too terribly bright when it reached the horizon. You could look right at it, no problem. That was not the case today. It got really bright, really fast. I put the neutral density filter on not long after the sun first poked it’s head above the water. Sunglasses for the camera, if you will.
The farther out I zoomed, the less light made it in.
At this point the sun was well and truly up, and it was time to head to the Nissan dealer. Check off another of the goofy ideas I have for photo shoots. Done and done.
I finally did it. I’ve been living in Massachusetts for my whole life and I’d never watched the sun come up over the ocean. I’ve seen it go down over the Pacific ocean, but I’ve never seen it rise over the Atlantic.
Until today.
Sunrise was at 6:37am. I was standing on the beach with the camera on the tripod at about 6:15. What to do while I wait? How about play with some more 30 second exposures? Okay!
The sun was still below the horizon, but it was bright enough that I needed the neutral density filter. Without it, the pics were a white washout. With it, they were too dark. Oh well.
I was just goofing around, so I didn’t bother leveling the tripod when I changed the direction it was pointing in. That’s why the next too are a little like the old Batman TV show from the 60’s. Forgive me.
More pics to come…
Jen, you have to come with me next time.
We were working our way North to Seabrook, NH yesterday and thought we’d say hello to the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped at Salisbury Beach. Waved hello. Fed some sand fleas. Drove away.
Translate this sign into English and it reads: Bathroom.
So The Book of Mormon didn’t actually happen. We got to the Opera House, found our seats, sat down and began feeling miserable. There was a feeling of claustrophobia combined with an upset stomach combined with being extremely tall and sitting in a seat designed for someone who is not even a little bit tall. It was just a bad feeling from the word go. We ended up getting up and going to the lobby just before the show started and then we left after the first song. Maybe we’ll try again another time if we can guarantee an aisle seat. We shall see.
The Boston Opera house is beautiful, if not tall person friendly.
How’s this for the bathroom lobby?
I didn’t buy a souvenir, but if I had I would have had a tough time choosing between the stuffed magical aids frog, and the Hasadeega Eebowai shirt.
We ended up heading toward home. When we got close Jen, my amazing wife whom I love with all my heart and all my soul, asked if maybe we could extend the Date Day by aimlessly driving toward the ocean. That works for me!
We got to the ocean at Salisbury Beach in Salisbury, MA and then headed North. When we got to Hampton Beach in Hampton Beach, NH we had our first really clear view of the Atlantic. It was furious. I’ve never seen waves even close to as huge and angry as I saw today. It almost looked like the Pacific. Just North of the public beach the waves were crashing into the rocks and splashing up over the retaining wall onto the road. We stopped to admire the view. I took a few pictures using Hipstamatic. I took a few short videos too. Those will be posted later.
We weren’t the only ones watching the waves. Just about everyone who drove by stopped for a look.
And obviously, this is my favorite of all pictures.
We went up North as far as Portsmouth, NH and then turned around. We ended up going to dinner at a new Indian restaurant in Andover, MA. Turns out the manager on duty was actually from our usual favorite Indian restaurant, Kashmir in Salem, NH. We might have an alternate go-to place now.
So we didn’t do what we had initially set out to do, but we still had a date day that was wonderful for the simple fact that the love of my life and I spent the day together. I am so insanely in love with her.
Inside the Red Head's Head 