Canon 30D, tripod Canon 100-300L at 300mm, f7.1 1/1250 second at ISO 250

Against the sun

We spent a week on North Topsail Beach in North Carolina, in a condo right by the water, with excellent weather the entire time, so I shot what is technically known as a buttload of photos. One of several mornings out watching sunrise, I caught a trio of fishing boats coming out of the nearby inlet and was able to frame them against the sun. In fact (and this detail just barely comes through at this resolution,) if you look very closely, you might even see the thin lines of the deep-sea fishing rods rising diagonally from the roofline of the boat. I later looked at the map and estimated the distance of the boat at 2.5 kilometers, so I'm pleased to have captured this detail, however faintly.

But even without it, there's the deep colors, and the effect of the atmosphere on the shape and color of the sun. It's rare that I get the opportunity to see the sun right on the horizon like this – North Carolina humidity often obscures it down this low – so it was one of numerous aspects that made the trip quite memorable.