Sunset, Belmar NJ

Sometimes, when everyone is looking one way, it is rewarding to turn and look the other way. This is often true with sunrises and sunsets, as while the sun along the horizon creates a beautiful sight, it is also painting the opposite side of the horizon with beautiful soft light. And so, one Friday afternoon in the summer I went out by the beach in Belmar to take in the warm evening. There was hardly anyone there, except for a few surfers in the water, which made parking much easier, a rarity at the Jersey Shore during summer time.

My favorite times to photograph are early morning when the sun just comes up and late in the day when the sun is near the horizon. Both times offer a different kind of light than normal middle of the day daylight, and it is softer with more red, pink and orange in it, not to mention, and most importantly to me, it creates really great shadow contrasts.

As I walked out to the beach, I made a few photographs as the sun just lit up the tops of the grass along the beach, as well as parts of the Belmar Fishing Club. As I wrote last week, I enjoy the play of light from the sun on the clouds after the sun has set. This time, I didn’t watch the sun set as it set over my shoulder, but rather looked towards the eastern horizon where the light from the sun was warming up the clouds. Luckily for me, there was a decent swell coming in along with an easterly wind which took the spray from the breaking waves with it out to sea, creating the softer feel I was looking for.

This moment lasted just briefly; soon, the clouds had lost their illumination from the disappearing sun, creating a rather flat image. I can still go back to standing there exposing that frame, the soft warm breeze that makes summers at the jersey shore so great, the softness of the sky, the sound of the ocean, and the water rushing in from the Atlantic Ocean. For me, a successful photograph will bring me back to the feeling I had when I made the exposure; with each week of this winter seemingly bringing a new round of snow or freezing rain, etc, it is nice to be transported away to warmer times, even just for a few minutes.

This photograph and many others are on my website, www.colinseitzphotography.com. There, you can order any of my photographs as a mounted fine art print, canvas print, or notecard. All of my fine art prints come with a 1 year money back guarantee; if for any reason you are dissatisfied for any reason with the print, I will refund the purchase price of any undamaged print, no questions asked. Further details on this are available here. The Jersey Artist Registry show at the Hotel Tides in Asbury Park closes on the 22nd, with the closing reception on the 20th, from 5 to 9pm. Come and out see a great sampling of local artwork. I will also have 3 pieces in the annual juried “Eyesights” show at the Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury NJ, for which I will announce dates for in next week’s article. I hope everyone has a great week,
Colin