Shooting ideas for Outer Banks?

mkress65

My wife, daughter and I are heading to the Outer Banks for a week of fun w/ the in-laws -- any suggestions on good places/ times to shoot? Coming from the left-coast, there is a certain appeal to trying to get some sunrise shots over the ocean, as opposed to the sunset shots. We'll be staying in Corolla, NC.

Thanks for any suggestions!

livefreenski

I was down there three years ago honestly just find a beach.. they are so great down there. also kitty hawk its a good stop..

-ty

ChrisJ

mkress65 wrote:

My wife, daughter and I are heading to the Outer Banks for a week of fun w/ the in-laws -- any suggestions on good places/ times to shoot? Coming from the left-coast, there is a certain appeal to trying to get some sunrise shots over the ocean, as opposed to the sunset shots. We'll be staying in Corolla, NC.

Thanks for any suggestions!

My favorite places on the Carolina coast are Kill Devil Hills (near Kitty Hawk), and Sunset Beach. Unfortunately, they're at opposite ends of the coast! The dunes at the former can give some very nice photographic opportunities. The Kitty Hawk monument is also nice. Sunset Beach was (at the time) connected to the mainland by a one-lane bridge. This kept down traffic and made it very peaceful. This was many years ago, so I don't know if that's changed.

There are also several lighthouses, the most famous being Cape Hatteras. But Hatteras has been moved inland to save it from the ocean, so it's not quite as picturesque anymore. I think Dixie has a thread with somewhere with Carolina lighthouses.

Just looked up Corolla... You'll definitely want to go to Kill Devil Hills. If you have a hankering to learn to hang glide, you can also do that there!

Enjoy your visit! I hope the hurricanes leave you alone.

mkress65

Thanks for all the ideas -- managed to avoid all hurricanes! Although I also didn't get out shooting nearly as much as I wanted, I did get some ideas on where to go next year when we go back.

richtersl

Oregon Inlet is also nice. If you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle there's beach access not to far from there and you can get pretty close to the water.

And don't forget to take a drive down to Ocracoke Island while you're there. You can pull over in plenty of places to get some dune shots.

Nags Head is kind of interesting, especially where the beach erosion is such that some homes are in the water. Also the Wright Brothers Museum is right there.

When you head north of Nag's Head you'll see the biggest sand dune you've ever seen in your life! I think that's where Kill Devil Hills is. Lots of hang gliding going on in that area.

Hope this helps!

mmroden

I took a bunch of shots in Ocracoke, they're here:

http://www.pbase.com/mmr/ocracoke_for_new_years

I've been going there since I was a kid (or as Notorious B I G would say, since days of underoos), and I've just realized how awesome it is.

One thing that is very annoying: the locals have fought for, and gotten, the rights to drive their 4x4s on the beach, over, say, turtles and so forth. When I was getting dawn shots, there were always dolphins going up and down the coast, and always one or two 4x4's as well.

mkress65

Thanks for all the additional ideas! We were lucky enough to not see any 4 X 4's on the beach -- considering how crowded it was when we were there, they would've had a hard time squeezing through (or maybe I'm just used to the beaches here in Oregon!)

Appreciate everyone taking the time to post thoughts and pictures (love the beach tree!) We're definitely going back next year, so I'll keep all of these ideas in mind!