st augustine – Matt Tilghman Photography

Simple Sunrise – Sunrise Over St Augustine Beach, Florida

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 14:46:27 +0000

Beauty in simplicity describes this peaceful sunrise over St Augustine Beach, Florida.

My wife and I went to St. Augustine over Memorial Day weekend for a short getaway. I had wanted to photograph sunrise from Anastasia State Park, the place where my parents got engaged. Unfortunately, you can’t get in before dawn (unless you are camping there, which was not in the plans for this trip). However, we discovered that nearby St Augustine Beach was accessible pre-dawn, so decided to photograph there instead . Close enough! I had feared that the sunrise would be quite boring, since the sunsets had been completely cloud-free. But a few clouds had built overnight, over the distant horizon. It wasn’t enough to create a drama-filled scene, but was enough to add a bit of intrigue. Instead of being an onslaught to your vision, it was instead subtle tranquility that made you focus on your other senses. I tried to find a simple foreground to complement this feeling.

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St John’s County Ocean Pier At Sunrise

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 14:34:11 +0000

A quiet sunrise at St Augustine Beach, Florida, with shells in the foreground at St. John's County Ocean Pier in the background.

I liked the idea of photographing the pier at sunrise, but my real motivation for shooting this angle was to try to capture the reflection. I love it when you can capture reflections on the beach. To me, they look different than the standard water reflections like in a puddle or mountain lake. The thin layer of water on top of the sand seems to give it an almost shiny quality. It's almost like a metallic photo print, whereas a normal reflection is a normal glossy print. Now as far as metallic sandy beach reflections go, this one obviously isn't much. But then again, there wasn't much in the sky to reflect. What I like about this photo is that the beach gave a reflection despite all the shells. It shows how gentle and thin the waves were, turning the sand into a wet canvas without disturbing the shells.

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Wash, Rinse, Repeat – Sunrise Over St Augustine Beach, Florida

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 14:03:16 +0000

Gentle waves rinse over the small sea shells on St. Augustine Beach, Florida, at sunrise.

As I mentioned in the description of another photograph from this morning, the simplicity of the sunrise forced me to focus on other senses besides vision. Usually, when watching sunrise from a beach, the second-most salient sense would be hearing. When you are on the beach without all the crowds, you hear so many noises you usually can’t. The main one which comes to mind is the tossing and turning of the shells in the waves. It’s hard to describe, but most of you probably know what I’m talking about. Well on this morning, as I searched my senses, I noticed that even that noise was barely audible. The waves were so gentle, and spread out over such a long flat beach, that the shells weren’t moving much. Instead, the thin layer of water would create small wakes over the shells. And these aren’t large shells entrenched deeply in the sand — these are small coquina clams! It was mesmerizing to watch the water patterns over the small shells repeat themselves over and over, reversing direction as the waves came in and out.

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Small Wave over Shallow Sandbar – Anastasia State Park, Florida

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:45:18 +0000

A small wave “breaks” over a shallow sandbar. Taken in Anastasia State Park, near St Augustine, Florida

I love walking on shallow sandbars, because I love observing how different the water behaves. In open water, large waves take their stereotypical form when giant underwater swells pass over quickly changing ocean floor depth, which causes them to “break”. On a shallow sandbar, you can witness the same phenomena, but in miniature. Take for instance the wave breaking in this picture. It was only an inch or two high, and much easier to safely observe its dynamics. In fact, it was more like a moving hydraulic jump than a wave. Either way, it was beautiful to take in!

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Walking the Walls – Castillo de San Marcos, St Augustine

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:29:16 +0000

Tourists walking the sea walls of Castillo de San Marcos, in St Augustine, Florida.

A lot of my friends in Florida say something similar: “Florida doesn’t have enough history!” I’m not sure where they get this idea, because Florida is full of history. It might feel “new” when you only stay in South Florida, but Florida is home to the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited city (of European origin): St Augustine. The city kept changing hands throughout America’s pre-revolutionary history (and after). Nations desired the city because of its extremely strategic position. It’s near proximity to the gulf stream, the main shipping route back to Europe, made it crucial. The fort pictured here, Castillo de San Marcos, protected the trading and naval ships (and defended against the pirates). It’s the oldest stone fort in the continental United States! How is that for history!

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Castillo At Dusk – Castillo de San Marcos, St Augustine Florida

Matt Tilg — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:12:11 +0000

Castillo de San Marcos and Sabal palm trees silhouetted at dusk in St Augustine, Florida.

If the general feel of this photograph seems familiar, it should. I’m not sure whether its an atmospheric quirk unique to the coastal regions where these Sabal palm trees also happen to grow, but this scene looks remarkably similar to the South Carolina license plate (with the notable addition of the Castillo de San Marcos). What I’m referring is the silhouette of the sabal palm, as well as the gradient in the sky. It progresses from a pastel red, to white, to a deep navy blue. Almost patriotic! Fitting not only for the topic of the image, but also since I was there on Memorial Day. I’m sure that this beautiful sky gradient is not unique to this region. But I’m also sure that it’s not the same gradient everywhere. In California, it was oranges and purples. I’d guess it has something to do with the particles in the sky, and how they scatter the light. The salty and water-saturated air here would be expected to scatter light differently than the dusty dry air in California.

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