Sunrise on Wrightsville Beach

It was an early morning. I hadn't been sleeping much anyways, so I decided to head out to the beach and snap off a roll of film. It was a beautiful morning, at least.

I used 100ASA film for this. It was about the perfect film to use for a couple of reasons. The first is 100ASA film needs lots of light for proper exposure, and I was taking a picture pointed directly at the sun. The second reason, specifically for my purposes, is that 100 speed film makes for near-perfect enlargements. You can easily enlarge 100 speed film with fear of seeing the grain, because the grain in this speed film is really small and finely packed.

So, I grabbed my small camera bag and a grass mat to put it all on the beach with, and headed out toward the darkened sky. It was funny because the sunrise was at around 6:15AM. I left my apartment at 5:30 thinking I had plenty of time. I would have, if the bridge to Wrigthsville Beach wasn't up for some sail boat trying to get an early launch. I had to load my film in the truck while waiting, because by the time I actually got to the beach the sun was almost up.

This was the best picture I came out with, and this one has been edited to enhance colors. Since I was shooting into the sun I used a smaller aperture and quick exposure, which also helped to capture the action of the waves.

About a week after I took this picture, I bought a sunrise filter off Ebay. The sunrise filter is half shaded in orange and half clear. The purpose is to rotate the filter until the orange covers above the horizon, giving the sky a nice color while leaving everything clear and natural. I will post more sunrise/sunset pictures as soon as I have taken them, but 5:30AM is early for me.