‘Assateague Island Sunrise’ | Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge- Assateague Island, VA This image was shot just before the sunrise broke over the ocean on Assateague Island, VA. The water in the foreground is a tidal wetland that is connected to Tom’s Cove that is off frame to the right. As soon as the sun came up over the ocean (directly in the center of this photo) the water filled with many species of birds ready for breakfast. I shot this several minutes before the last image in this stream, ‘First Light.’ If you read that post, you saw that this was a special shoot for me because my parents came along. A little about the island: Assateague is a 37 mile long barrier island that is split between Maryland and Virginia. The northernmost point of the island is separated from Ocean City, MD by a narrow inlet cut by a hurricane in 1933. After a 1962 storm destroyed the structures on the island, the planned development was halted and soon after Assateague became a National Seashore. On the Virginia side (where I visit), the island is home of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge which serves as a home for masses of migratory birds and other wildlife including the famous wild ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague. The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm VR Nikkor lens, tripod held and remote triggered. Single exposure of 2.5 sec, f/18. Edited in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color Efex and Nik Viveza plug-ins. Unsharp mask and exported for web. ©2011 Zach Frailey
First Light | Assateague Island, VA
After a few days’ hiatus, I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I spend a long weekend at Chincoteague Island, VA with my family and wife as we celebrated our wedding anniversary. My family has been going on vacation to Chincoteague since I was too little to walk, so I never miss a chance to meet up with them on the island. This visit wasn’t as ‘eventful’ as last year’s (read the blog post here) and that made it just about perfect.
Before making the short four hour trip up the coast, I made a shot list of the things I wanted to photograph while on Chincoteague. Right up at the top was a sunrise. So, at 5:00am I set out across the island to the adjacent barrier island, Assateague, to get my shots. Much to my surprise, my mom and dad came along with me. It’s always nice to have company when out shooting photos, especially when it’s my parents who I rarely get to see. We shot the sun cresting up over the ocean and then we headed back down the road to this spot. Those of you familiar with the National Wildlife Refuge on the island will recognize this cluster of trees along the Wildlife Loop trail. I don’t know why, but these trees are synonymous with Assateague Island for me. I guess I’ve just seen them so many times that they have buried themselves in my mind.
The Shot: Nikon D90, shot at 18mm. This is a three exposure HDR, shot from a tripod and remote triggered. Merged in Photomatix Pro, finished in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Color efex Pro and Nik Viveza pro plug-ins. In post processing, I added a pretty pronounced blur to the water in the foreground at the very end. The heavy detail in the water seemed to take away from the serenity of the whole scene. Now, it all flows together.
©2011 Zach Frailey
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
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