Trip to North Carolina, Part III: Sunrise at Wrightsville Beach

Absent-mindedly researching sunset time at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., using Indianapolis data proved costly. There was no traditional sunrise inching above the horizon to catch, because using the Indianapolis data, the sun had already risen above that point -- and a bit beyond -- by the time I had camera in hand and was prepared to shoot.

But with a combination of shots using the Canon 7D and iPhone, I did capture an array of images with various secondary subjects and elements with the sun in rising position that morning.

I spent a good chunk of time in post-processing exploring various ways to present several of the images. Again, I turned to color hues -- combinations of full color and monochromes, but also adjusting the highlights slide to bring out or minimize the solar spherical shapes and to introduce dramatic collars to the sun.

Secondary subjects ranged from people walking the beach, to runners, to surfers deciding to get an early jump on the morning tides.

Here they are, and as always, click on the image to see it larger, sharper and in more detail. Leading off the post is a single-frame version presented to illustrate detail I actually lost in the HDR version (first below). The detail in this instance are the five birds you can hopefully see in the top image in and around the sun. It's all but lost in the layered version below. Those white lines you might see in the foreground angling up to the left and right are the hotel's seagull sound wires.

Next up: Atlantic Beach. 

Above: One of the iPhone shots, which I played a bit with in post-processing to bring out detail in the surfers heading out to the water ... and to reduce highlights to  give the sun more definition.

Above and below: Color and monochrome versions of the same image.

Above and next two below: Various frames capturing beach walkers enjoying the sunrise.

Above: An iPhone photo, the very first picture I took, reflecting the sun closest to the horizon. I shot this through the hotel's seagull sound wires, the white lines you notice particularly in the dark foreground area in the center of the image.

Above: In this HDR rendering, the melding/layering effect amplified the sun's crepuscular rays. For this shot, also taken through the seagull sound wires, I also pulled back some of the natural amber tones to reveal more of the ocean and sky blue.

Above: Joggers enjoying the early-morning rays.

 Above: The horse-rider, in another iPhone shot.

Above: Boosting the saturation a bit.