Sunrise Obsession is Imminent
Tag: Sunrise
of the New Rising Sun
Sunrises
Sunrise
I made it to Salisbury Beach this morning. I took a bunch of pics and I don’t like any of them. I had the ISO set way too high because I set it high when I’m at home and I always forget to lower it when I go outside. It ruined all of my long exposures. Blah.
I think I prefer the 40mm lens to the 28mm lens for the sun itself, but the 28mm is better for the beach as a whole. That makes sense, right?
I had the ND filter on for a lot of these. Not sure which pic is the first one after I took it off.
From here on the ISO is set to 100 instead of 1600.
Sunrise Pics
I thought this morning was going to be a bust. I got up to Hampton Beach in plenty of time to catch the sunrise, but there were clouds covering the horizon. Lots of them. I thought I had wasted a morning. I didn’t though. Gravitational lensing and all that? Could be.
I took a few shots before the appointed sunrise time, just because I was there and the ocean was there and we were there together and why not, right?
The waves were super wimpy, but the sky was just spectacular. I set up the tripod and put the digital camera on it for some long exposures. I’m not sure why, but none of them came out. I used shutter priority and set the time to 30 seconds. I didn’t try anything shorter than that so it’s my fault, but at least I can blame the… shit… I forgot to drop the ISO down to 100. I keep it set at 800 when I am at home. Okay. I can’t blame shutter priority, it was all my fault. Sorry about that, folks.
Anyway, I took out the ebay Nikon with Dad’s zoom lens and I was putzing around with that when suddenly I noticed the freakin’ sun was visible, popping out of the water. I guess I didn’t waste the morning after all!
Success! Two sunrise shoots in less than one week. I think I am set for sunrise at the ocean pics for a while then. Excellent.
One thing that’s fun at this spot on Hampton Beach is catching the sun reflecting off the windows across the street. It was less impressive than other visits but it was okay. I was missing my old zoom lens at this point, but I had a zoom on the film camera so I may get a good view when I get the film developed at some point in the vastly distant future.
I took a bunch of sun and water shots with the film camera. I expect they will all suck, mostly because the light meter on the Nikon FG-20 is a bitch to read. Manually focusing with that camera is also a bitch, but everything I was looking at was at infinity so that made it easier. Hopefully everything will come out okay, but we’ll have to wait and see.
I had planned to make a second stop on this morning’s photography adventure. I was going to go to downtown Lowell and walk around with one of the film cameras. Unfortunately for my plans my bladder was kinda full. I changed plans to stop at a spot in Andover where you can get up close to a railroad track, but I needed to change from route 495 South to route 93 South and I accidentally got on route 93 North, which is the way to get home. I was kind of on autopilot because I was listening to the live tracks on the deluxe edition of Rush Permanent Waves because today is Geddy Lee’s birthday and I guess I just distracted myself.
I decided I would go home, pee, and then go out for some car music. When I got home, Jen suggested I go back to bed because it was only 6:30am or so and I was going to need a nap at some point, so I went back to bed for a couple of hours and then did car music.
And that is my morning.
Ocean Shoot Mark II
The sun will come up at Hampton Beach tomorrow at 5:31am. If I am going to get there in time I have to leave the house by 4:50 at the latest. I would have to be out of bed by 4:20 or so.
Can I do another sunrise shoot? The second one in a week?
I’m pretty tired tonight… but I think I will pack the cameras into a backpack before bed tonight. You know, just in case.
Photography is fun, isn’t it?
Sunrise Pics
Success! The cloud cover was non-existent and the weather came through for me! This is Salisbury Beach in Salisbury, Massachusetts. Sunrise was at 5:27am. The first few were before the sun came up. The waves were pretty high for this spot. The tide was pretty high too. I was hoping to be able to go over to the other side of the pier, but I didn’t bother.
There were film shots too but it could be decades before I get them developed. I used my ebay Nikon with Dad’s zoom lens. That lens really is a piece of shit, but I kinda want to have one full roll shot with it. We’ll see if anything comes out recognizable as sunrise at the ocean pics. I definitely got to get myself a new lens for that camera.
Right then, I have finally done a photo-trip this summer! There were two more quick stops, but you’ll see those in the next post. You might say I have the bug again. There will be more morning photo-jaunts before the weather goes bad. I promise. Sunlight be damned, I am doing more of this!
4:15AM
It’s quarter past four in the morning. I am up and at ’em. My cameras are packed in a backpack (I don’t have an actual camera bag big enough to fit three camera), the cats’ food bowl has been topped off, I have a full water bottle and a protein bar in a lunch bag, I am finishing off my morning vitamins as I type this, I’ve checked the weather forecast for both Hampton Beach and Salisbury Beach and it’s the same partly sunny for both.
I guess the only thing left to do is decide which beach to drive to and hope the horizon is clear there. Fingers crossed. Also, where do I want to stop for more pictures on the way home? I’m thinking of the Plumb Island lighthouse again. It’s not very impressive as a lighthouse or as a lighthouse setting, but it is a lighthouse and there are some interesting places to stop on the way there and back.
Okay then… I am making the call. We’re going to Salisbury Beach. Time to load up the car and head out. Wish me sunrise luck!
Two Hours to Go
The weekend is about two hours away. 123 minutes, to be exact. I’m finding motivation a little tough to come by this afternoon but I will get everything that needs to be done today done today as far as work goes.
Jen is planning on spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. How good does that sound, right? I will go grocery shopping afterward. I’m a little behind on my protein intake for today so I may need to eat something substantial after I get home. I am ahead of the game on hydration though. My post-lunch one hour pause before having anything to drink will end in about three minutes and I’ve got a 20 ounce bottle of Gatorade Zero upstairs in the fridge with my name on it. After that my daily liquid intake goal will be obliterated nicely.
I put out four mouse traps in the cellar. The cats don’t come down here so it should be okay. Let me rephrase, the cats are not allowed down cellar. They very much want to come down here, I just don’t let them. One trap went off but I think that was due to a ghost, or an Earthquake or something. No mice were involved. I did see one running past the base of the stairs. I was upstairs and opened the door to come down and there it was. Asshole. Was it the same mouse I saw earlier? How the hell should I know, it was a mouse. I wasn’t checking for identifying details. Sheesh.
Reminder to myself: Write lyrics tonight. Record vocals in some random empty parking lot tomorrow morning. Maybe take the cameras to the ocean for sunrise on Sunday. The forecast at Salisbury Beach looks promising. We’ll see. Sunrise would be great, but music is what’s important. I also need to clean the kitchen and do a little work straightening out the kids rooms this weekend. That’s important too, but a different kind of important, you know? Health and well being and happiness vs musical mental health. Simple. Speaking of, when’s the next band practice?
Okay, Robert. Go get that Gatorade Zero and finish your work projects. You’ve got this, red head. No problem. 110 minutes until the weekend.
Post script: There was just a blast of thunder outside that was loud enough to shake the walls a little. It didn’t set off any of the mouse traps though. That’s good.
Notes
Sunrise at Salisbury Beach tomorrow is at 6:14 AM.
The temperature around sunrise will be 29-30 degrees. Brrr.
The sky is forecast to be mostly clear.
Are those conditions good enough to go take some sunrise pictures? The time and the sky look good. 29-30 degrees is a little off putting, but if I wear a warm jacket and take gloves with me… it’s doable.
I remain undecided though. We’ll see.
If I go I will take my Z5 and the 40mm lens, and Dad’s K1000 with the 50mm lens. I would bring a second roll of film in case I get into it and crank out the last 20 shots in the current roll and still want to shoot more. The current roll is color (Fuji Superia 400 at box speed) and a potential second roll would be black and white (Kentmere 100? Or should I try a roll of 400 instead?).
In the immortal words of Commander Data in The Best of Both Worlds Part II, “processing… processing…”.
Inside the Red Head's Head 