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Health & Fitness

Shore Sunsets

Here in New Jersey we can bare witness to some amazing sunsets.  Each sunset has it own unique characteristics, even if you repeatedly watch it set in the same location every night.  You will never find two that are the same.  There might be clouds in the sky or no clouds at all.  The colors that are produced could be shades of orange, yellow, and red, or you might get some pinks and purples.  The sun might be in full view or partially obscured...you get the idea.  While they might not look the same, they all can make a person appreciate the beauty that this world has to offer.  That is, if we take the time out of our busy schedules to just slow down for a moment and admire the landscapes they help create.

After catching several sunsets this year, my wife and I have made it a goal to see as many sunsets in different locations along the New Jersey Shore this summer as possible.  Some locations we walked to, others we took our bikes to get there, and cars and boats were required for certain locations that were further away.  One thing that was consistent though, were our backpacks full of camera gear to capture the images that we hoped to see.

The first photo, was taken by my wife in Brick Beach in late July.  Many families were there fishing or crabbing, which made it a good opportunity for silhouettes.  She used her Nikon D600, with a 24-70 2.8f Tamron lens, a shutter speed of 1/1000s, ISO 100 and her tripod.

The second photo, was taken by myself in early August coming home from coaching beach volleyball in Belmar.  I had noticed there were some great clouds and colors that were happening during this sunset over the Shark River.  It was one of those moments when you are happy that you always carry your camera bag with you.  This was shot with my Nikon D4, a 70-200mm 2.8f Nikkor lens, a shutter speed of 1/125s, and ISO 100.

The third photo, is a shot that I had in my head for a couple of weeks.  We put the bike on the back of the car, after finding this beach in Lavalette and headed out for the location.  We arrived at the location about a half hour before sunset and set up the shot.  The kite surfer being there that day was an added bonus.  This shot was taken with my Nikon D4, a 70-200mm 2.8f Nikkor lens, a shutter speed of 1/1000s,  ISO 200, and a tripod.

The fourth photo was taken earlier this week by my wife in River Front Park, Point Pleasant.  She took this hand held image with her Nikon D600, a Tamron 24-70mm 2.8f lens, a shutter speed of 1/500s, and ISO 800.

The fifth photo was taken from one of the Cape May Whale Watcher boats from their sunset cruise in late July.  Not only did we see a lot of dolphin that night but we caught a great sunset.  It is a hand held image taken with my Nikon D4, a 70-200mm 2.8f Nikkor lens, a shutter speed of 1/400s, and ISO 100.

The sixth image is from LBI.  I took a chance when going there because there was pretty decent cloud cover and I did not know if I would get any sunset at all.  The sunset was not the best, but I found what I thought was some good subject matter to have in the image with what sunset there was.  The shot is of a Sunfish coming in from an evening race.  This hand held image was taken with my Nikon D600, a 16-35mm f4 lens, a shutter speed of 1/400s, and ISO 250.

The last image is actually a repeat area.  It is another sunset from Shark River in Belmar.  This one was taken by my wife and this area is quickly becoming one of our favorite areas to photograph sunsets.  There are a lot of different variables that constantly change each time we shoot there.  This time in mid-July the water was nice and calm and she captured a lot of pink and purples in her shot along with some nice reflections.  The image was taken with her Nikon D600, a Tamron 24-70mm 2.8 lens, a shutter speed of 1/4000s, ISO 900 and a tripod.

As you can see, not all sunsets are created equal but we believe that you cannot have enough of them and we do not get tired of the beauty they create.  Something that is so gorgeous and always changing has to be good for the soul.

We hope you have enjoyed the images and places shared in this article.  Maybe we will even cross each others paths during a sunset at the shore.

Scott and Erin

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