Barnegat

This past weekend I went to Barnegat for the first time. I wanted to test out my new ND filter with some long-exposure ocean shots. An hour into the drive...I remembered that I forgot my tripod. Oops. Since Dave and I like to go on adventures, I got over it and we had a good time, anyway.

Wheeee!

It's a quiet little town in the offseason. There isn't much to it except for the lighthouse and the rocky beach by the bay. It was great for walking and great for birdwatching. This weekend also marked a year since Dave and I got together. He considered this an anniversary trip, I found out later, but I just thought it was a fun outing at the time. We went to Sandy Hook a couple of weeks ago, and we regularly go all over when it's nice out, after all.

Dave took this one, of course. That's me ignoring the lighthouse for seagulls.

We ended up walking all the way down the beach, well past the walkway. We both wanted to take photos; Dave was giving my old DSLR a test run. We walked on the rocks, and when I was convinced that I was going to fall between them and into the ocean, we switched to the beach.

Dave sneaks pics of me when I'm distracted.

I pulled a classic Jen and almost walked right into a tidal pool. I was looking down at my camera and walking, and I just happened to notice that my next step was going to plunk me right in some water.

He isn't worried about falling between the rocks.

It was a little chilly for April, and down where the bay met the ocean, it was windy and freezing. Dave stood still long enough for me to torture him by taking his photo.

He usually hates photos of himself, but I think I get some good ones.

Then it was time to head back, and my hands were cold to the point that I could barely work the camera. Dave remedied that with his coat.

So Dave's coat fit over my down vest AND my camera bag. Note that the buttons don't line up. Now is when we met the mean heron. I like birds. Owls and seagulls and penguins and herons- all kinds of birds. We saw a heron flying overhead. We started to talk about how they hadn't been on the beach, and then one was ten feet away on the rocks. He was beautiful. I went to get my camera, under the coat in the bag, and it flew away. Repeat. The mean heron was taunting me. I eventually gave up.

Barnegat was fun. One day I'll get photos of a heron.