Sand, Water, and Sky at Assateague Island

I'll start at the end of our story; as we drove off Assateague Island on Saturday, we enjoyed a few fleeting moments of crimson sunset looking south over Sinepuxent Bay. I made this three-image panoramic by shooting handheld out the window of my jeep. I shot the portrait images as wide as my attached lens would allow—24mm—so that I could capture Venus hovering above. This scene lasted for less than a minute. After capturing these frames, I considered getting out and setting-up my tripod (in the middle of the road), but by the time the thought had formed, the sky had darkened and the water was black.

Our trip to Assateague Island was to find the snowy owl that we photographed last December. We found the little critter and he posed for several hundred photos—more later this week. But, unlike our last trip, I vowed to not ignore the landscape for the bird. I made at least a dozen panoramic images, including these two. This second panoramic is also handheld, looking south down the beach and east out over the ocean. It probably covers about 110 degrees. This 'first draft' panoramic will need to be reprocessed because of some minor scalloping on the ocean horizon, but I really like the brightness of the sky and tire-ruts running south down the beach. This image gives you a good idea of the landscape of the island.

Wintertime is ideal for visiting the island. It was quiet. The ocean was beautiful. The sky was perfect blue without even a hint of haze. It was also 35 degrees with a blustery 30 MPH wind coming in from the west (yes west). It is kind of funny that without any cues about the weather conditions, you could almost pass this image off as taken in spring or summer. Assateague Island isn't a particularly hospitable place in summer—biting horseflies, mosquitos, etc...—but winter can be perfect. If only we had gone on Sunday when the temperatures were in the upper 50's. Ah, but perhaps all the other conditions wouldn't have cooperated for such wonderful photos.