Bad weather is good weather for landscape photography.  Bad weather is what drove me towards the Oregon Inlet Lifesaving Station on this particular evening.  During January in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, bad weather means some sort of cold front.  And cold fronts mean wind.  Lots of wind.  Winds from the north.  Winds that create nor’easters.  It’s the type of wind that exposes and undresses you when you try to walk the beach.  It matters not how many layers you put on. Winds finds the weak points and exploit them:  nose, eyes, ears, hands.

Wind also moves sand.  On a barrier island like the Outer Banks, a good blow will erase footprints and leave an unblemished carpet of beautiful wind-driven ripples.  Whenever the wind begins to really crank, my mind immediately wanders to sand.  During the low-angled light of morning and/or evening, these wind-driven ground patterns drive deep shadows against bright highlights; patterns that are bold and beautiful behind the lens.

Extremely cold and windy days also produce interesting clouds.  In many non-coastal places, cold fronts often mean boring blue-bird skies and lots of wind.  I’m not a scientist, but it seems that when the air temperature drops to a certain level over the thin ribbon of sand that constitutes the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the difference between the water temperature of the ocean (warmer) and of the air (cooler) results in big, bunched clouds over the Atlantic.  The winds seem to further hold the clouds out to sea.

Of course, wind and cold mean tough environmental conditions for cameras to operate.  After several hours of running around the dunes on Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on this evening, I had grains of sand in every button and crevice of my camera.  It was a grainy mess.  One can’t help but question whether the bliss of trying to capture moving sand is worth the potential destruction of gear.  I’ve bought multiple storm jackets for my gear for this very reason, but seldom use them in the heat of the moment while out in the field.

The Oregon Inlet Lifesaving Station is located on the northern end of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.  It was one of the first seven stations commissioned in 1874 on the Outer Banks by the Life Saving Service.  Built originally in 1897, the Oregon Inlet Lifesaving Station was actually called “Bodie Island Station.”  It was only later that the naming mistake was fixed.  The Coast Guard used the station until 1988.  Afterwards it fell into disrepair.  There were plans in 2001 to redevelop the station and the surrounding area to house the Marine & Coastal Wildlife Center.  However, uncertainty regarding the nearby Bonner Bridge replacement and future access (or lack of access) pushed the project towards its current location at the newly developed Jennette’s Pier in South Nags Head, North Carolina.  The Oregon Inlet Lifesaving Station was, however, rehabilitated, lifting the structure up ten feet and rebuilding much of the exterior structure.

Camera:  Nikon D810
Lens:  Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8 @ 35mm
Tripod:  Really Right Stuff TVC-33

Date taken:  January 21, 2019
Settings:  f14, 1/20 second, iso-64