Assateague Lighthouse | Assateague Island, VA
History: The 142-foot tall Assateague Island lighthouse was built in 1867 to help ships navigate the dangerous shoals of the island on the coast of Virginia. Assateague Lighthouse actually enjoys an opposite conditions that threatens many other great lighthouses. Where most lighthouses today are threatened by erosion, the land mass around Assateague Lighthouse has been filling in. Since being built, the waterline of the inlet has been “pushed back” close to 5 miles away from the light due to the constant, natural deposits of land.
Processing: I shot this image in 2009 and just revisited it today. It’s a single exposure, well baked in Photoshop. First, I fixed the color and straightened it out. I shot this on my old D40, and my photography was in it’s early stages. The sky was grey and blown out, so I replaced it. Using Nik Color Efex, I added a Tonal Contrast and a Pro Contrast filter to it. Finally, I added a Gaussian Blur on the entire image followed by a layer mask using the gradient tool to blur the water in the foreground.
©2011 Zach Frailey, Please do not use without permission.
Sunrise on the Bay
Chincoteague Island, VA
I’m starting to get pretty excited for my annual journey to Chincoteague, so I decided to go back through the archives for this one. I’m not sure if this really is a bay, but it is a continuation if the Assateague Bay near Black Point Landing. Just around the bend, the whole thing empties into Tom’s Cove and the Atlantic Ocean. This was shot from Veteran’s Memorial Park facing the Assateague Lighthouse.
©2011 Zach Frailey
Critters!
Everyone that follows me and sees my work knows that I seem to concentrate on very wide angle landscape HDR images. And I agree, that is my specialty. However, I took a trip to Chincoteague and Assateague island a week ago and in processing my images have found that I must have spent a lot of time sneaking up on birds and animals! This type of thing isn’t what I normally do, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It gave me a chance to use my long zoom lens (which doesn’t get used nearly enough to justify me having it in my bag) and it is just plain fun to sneak around in the grass trying to get the shot of a White Egret stalking its prey.
I previously posted these pictures on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uprootedphotographer), but they look much better when viewed large. All of these critters were photographed at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It really makes me want to take up bird watching…maybe.
All photos ©2010 Zach Frailey
Visit www.facebook.com/uprootedphotographer to connect.
