Bombing swell. Good direction. Great sandbar. Onshore wind. Same ol story. Still fun hangin with the boys down there. Ready for a good swell with offshores…haven’t shot from the water in at least 3 months. Feels weird. Big week next week multiple weddings and engagement shoots. Check back!
Brett Barley, Blue Steel
''Hey kooks have you seen my new cover shot?''
This is what the waves looked like on Thursday evening.
Story of my life.
The new Jennettes Pier in Nags Head features one of my images on a large panel out on the pier. I took this photo at Avalon Pier last year and it worked out great for the panel. Going back on Thursday to take photos of the pier house so check back. The pier looks really good inside!! Def a killer venue for weddings and events. Looking forward to photographing weddings there!
Kicked off my 2011 Wedding Season on Saturday. Mike OToole and Katie Candelaria exchanged their vows at the Holy Redeemer in Kitty Hawk and their reception followed at the Aqua S in Duck. The weather was as good as it gets. After the ceremony, we snuck over to the beach for some fun wedding party photos. We really enjoyed photographing their wedding as they were super laid-back, easy to work with, and a lot of fun. The abundance of kids running around having a blast made it even better. The perfect day ended with a beautiful sunset on the sound. I highly recommend Aqua S as a reception venue! Congrats Katie & Mike…hope you’re having a blast in JAMAICA!
Tried shooting surf from Avalon last few days. Waves weren’t cooperating. Thanks to those who tried to shred. Hopefully it comes together in the next couple days.
Had the opportunity to photograph the Pains Bay Fire yesterday, which has spread to over 21,000 acres. William Sweet, Public Information Officer, and Rob Wood, head of the northeast division of the fire, were kind enough to take me back to the burnoff line so I could photograph the firemen in action. There were 2 helicopters doing loops overhead, filling giant containers of water in the sound (the larger heli carrying about 1,000 gallons) and dumping on the fire. A small airplane was also flying around as ‘the band director’, coordinating the helicopters efforts. Due to the wind direction and cool dry air, the fire was not as intense as I anticipated, but it was still really exciting to get up close and see how the teams work to contain the fire. It was also fascinating to see first hand how a wildfire affects the forest. The backlit haze from the lingering smoke against the charred trees and shrubs was eerie looking and the forest floor was completely covered in ash. Click on the first thumbnail to view the gallery and drag the image to the center of your screen to advance through the photos.
Kicked off our 2011 wedding season on Saturday. Katie Candelaria and Mike OToole tied the knot at the Holy Redeemer in Kitty Hawk. The reception followed at Aqua S in Duck. Loading and editing their photos now. Always nice getting emails like this from happy clients. Can’t wait for them to see the photos. Check back soon for images from their wedding day.
Softshell season is in full force. I went over to the Pruitt residence in Kitty Hawk to photograph the shedding/picking process last week. I had no idea how it all worked; it was quite a learning experience. Big thanks to the Pruitts for explaining everything and letting me photograph their setup. They work all day and night every day for ~6 weeks! Here’s a couple of the photos. Going back next week to get more. Check back for full gallery.
Shooting a wedding at Aqua S this weekend in Duck, so my wife and I cruised up there yesterday evening to scope it out and have dinner (declicious!). Since we were up there, we decided to drive to 4×4 Corolla with hopes of seeing wild horses to photograph. The light was about as good as it gets. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any horses, but it was still a beautiful evening. So cool driving for miles on the beach not seeing another human. Sunset was gorgeous. Really excited about my the first wedding of the season this weekend.
I saw the cold front coming on the radar this morning so I drove over to Avalon and walked out on the pier to take some photos. I got there about 5 minutes before it hit. Fronts are so fascinating to me. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees and the wind switched from SW to NE in a matter of seconds. It was freezing with the wind chill. As a waterman, it’s always a bummer seeing the front coming because you know the wind is about to pick up and switch, and the temperature is about to plummet. There were a handful of surfers out and the waves looked fun, but the front quickly ended their session.
Went to Avalon Pier this AM to watch the surf and drink my coffee. When I got there I noticed a group of people standing around something on the south side of the pier. A sperm whale beached itself last night around 11PM and was alive until 7 this morning flopping around in the shore break. A crew of locals and NPS tried to get the whale back in the water first thing this AM, but the crew was no match for the weight of the whale and pounding shore break. Some were saying the whale didn’t want to get back in the water…it beached itself because it wanted to die. Either way its a very sad thing to see; such a large beautiful creature struggling, in pain, and ultimately dying. Having studied Biology and Chemistry in college, I have a great appreciation and affinity for wildlife. It took 14 people to lift the whale and walk it up the dune to the truck. It will be transported to a local laboratory to determine the cause of death and try and better understand the mystery of why whales beach themselves. Here’s a few photos..it was already on the stretcher when I got there. *A little graphic, but not too bad*
