You’ve probably heard this warning many times:  don’t leave a scene until the last light extinguishes!  I was shooting the Oregon Inlet and newly constructed Marc Basnight Bridge in early January 2021.  Winter’s long night was fast approaching.  The sky was gray and heavy.  Sunset came and went, unremarkable.  I packed my camerabag and began retracing my steps towards the car.  Others were already in the parking lot waiting patiently for me to come to my senses and give up the fight.  I must admit, my mind was certainly wandering towards dinner.

Then, inexplicably, the sun, well below the horizon at this point, must’ve found some unseen hole in the cloud cover.  The shade of magenta that was sent into the sky was unnaturally beautiful.  Anyone who regularly views today’s digitally pushed landscape photography knows the jokes about purple skies.  And here I was standing within one!

The Marc Basnight Bridge replaced the Bonner Bridge, connecting Bodie Island with Hatteras Island.  This is an historically important connection for tourism, hurricane evacuation, and the economy.  The 2.8 mile span connects Cape Hatteras National Seashore to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, and traverses a very dynamic inlet that continues to migrate southwest.  The project–and this area in general–was/is very controversial because of the many environmental interests overlaid upon economic and social interests.  The Marc Basnight Bridge was completed in February of 2019.

Camera:  Nikon D850
Lens:  Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 @ 70mm
Tripod:  Really Right Stuff TVC-33

Date taken:  January 2, 2021
Settings:  f6.3, 30.0 seconds, iso-64