April 24, 2009 - I took this day off from work - this day was my birthday and this day fell on a Friday. I had a new camera and calm winds - time to hit the water.
Each morning of this week, I've driven in to work with the view of a beautiful sunrise. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep making my way toward the office. The only thing that saves me is knowing that the sunrise scene would be over before I could get home and grab my camera gear.
So on this Friday off, I decided to get up at the normal time and head to the boat ramp in hopes of making it out into the middle of Pine Island Sound before sunrise. I've been wanting to get to the fish shacks for sunrise shots and this was my chance.
Waking up and sluggish traffic get in our way but we make it to the Pineland boat ramp just before 7. Now the race is on to beat the sun!
We arrive at the shacks just as the sun is starting to peak over the horizon.
The distant wildfire in the Everglades lends it's hand in this unusual layer of color on the horizon.
We're only able to catch a few minutes of the pre-sunrise and then the shacks are fully backlit. I looked at Alan at about 7:15 and said "Well what do you want to do now???"
The answer was easy. We haven't seen water this calm in a long time and it would an easy ride over to the barrier islands. So off we went to one of my favorite spots - Charlie Pass.
This pass was cut in North Captiva by Hurricane Charlie. Lots of interesting structure, fallen trees and sandy beach area here- a lot which had been roped off for nesting birds.
After a session at the pass we decided to cruise the shoreline - check out some old flats that we used to fish and make our way through a cut to the gulf side.
I walked over the sandbar and was immediately faced with the Gulf. It was calm and beautiful with colors that are indescribable. And even more amazingly - there was no one around. The beach was ours - all ours! I was able to take countless photographs without having to wait for boats or beach walkers to go by. How sweet is that?!
This photogenic day along with some mangrove fishing on the way home made for a full day! I was exhausted at the end of the day but fully content. This day was a great birthday gift.
Added Note: You will note that most of my shots are taken from a low angle. With the new camera and my favorite surroundings, I must have done 500 'squats' on this day. I could barely walk the next day! Well worth it!
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