Sunset and Sunrise as Assateague Island National Seashore - May 2013

I visited the Assateague Island National Seashore in Virginia this week. There was a brisk sea breeze at both sunrise and sunset - enough to keep the mosquitos away.

The sunset was observed from the Toms Cove Visitor Center. We arrived a bit too early but there things to photograph beforehand - birds getting a snack before darkness and the lighthouse. The lighthouse in undergoing renovation and the cables used are seen in the image. The sunset itself was made more interesting by a lower bank of clouds. After the sun was behind the horizon the swirls in the clouds became more apparent.

The sunrise was observed looking out over the Atlantic from the beach. Again we arrived early but were shortly joined by a few others. It was before 6 AM! One person arrived on a motorcycle and headed off down the beach with his camera. A group of five people walked halfway down to the beach but then stopped and just stood huddled in the morning coolness to watch the sunrise. A man got out a folding chair and walked halfway to the shore and then sat. After photographing the lighthouse in the near darkness, I walked down to the beach. There were no shells to pick up but there was a sandcastle that someone had constructed the day before that incorporated a horseshoe crab into its structure and the waves were crashing to shore; it was good to hear them without the beach repair machinery noise of the previous day.

There was a boat visible in the morning mist. I took a few pictures of birds waking up.

The clouds were thick enough that the sun was hidden until it was well above the horizon and the color did not extend to all the clouds. It was a misty dawn.