Hello friends!

We’re back from a lovely vacation to the Outer Banks! Sully and I had a wonderful time walking beaches and going for long drives along the Sound, despite chilly weather. Of course I took heaps of photos I can’t wait to share with you. 🙂

I’m splitting the pictures into two very long posts: one for the beachy scenery today, and one for other miscellaneous photos and adventures next week. So for now, enjoy these beautiful landscapes!

The first day of vacation we got to our Airbnb, unloaded the car, and immediately walked to the closest beach. It ended up being way too cold for swimming (or even our swimsuits), but everything was soft and gorgeous in the golden hour light.

I was surprised at the deep turquoise color of the water. The photos may not convey it properly but it was so clear and vibrant!

One of my absolute favorite parts of this trip (beach trips in general) is walking along the beach, collecting shells. Although the public beaches we visited weren’t crowded in this off-season, there also weren’t tons of shells. I still collected a few beauties to display in a sand terrarium at home.

One of the most freeing things about the beach, I think, is how wide-open everything is. Without hills or mountains to disrupt the horizon, the sky and sea stretch endlessly. I had fun playing with negative space in a lot of my photos.

Hehe, Sully and I made a footprint heart in the sand because why not. 🙂 ❤

I’m always surprised at how difficult it is for me to capture the colors and details of ocean landscapes. I think the mist blurs the photos a bit maybe? I still love these regardless.

Hehe one of my favorites from the day: two obligingly matching beachgoers.

We found several strange black rock-like lumps on the beach. They had more the consistency of hard-packed clay, though. Anyone know what they are?

The weather was cloudy and windy for much of our stay, unfortunately. I got some moody beach pictures as well as sunny ones.

This series of photos is a bit depressing but super cool at the same time, in my opinion. The minimal landscape and gloomy clouds give the scenery a cinematic feel.

The pictures in this post are from a mix of different beaches, or rather different accesses to the same long beach that runs along the Outer Banks. This one is apparently “Beach 27,” heh.

The dunes added interest, dimension, and a bit of scruffy texture to the shoreline.

Before moving on from the beach section, here a few last ocean photos taken with my phone during a brief evening visit.

Now moving on to the Sound! It was super cool to be able to see the Sound on one side and the ocean on others from some vantage points.

I definitely didn’t encapsulate the brilliant blues and golds of this scene in the pictures… but it was beautiful!

One of my favorite pictures from the trip: partly because it’s of my favorite person, and partly because of the really nice contrast of the blue and orange. 🙂

The last section of today’s post features the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge. Once again, the minimal landscape and soft tones made me feel like I had entered a different world. So neat!

From on top of the highest ridge you could see the Sound in the distance and the ocean on the other side.

Quite a few people were putting the wind to good use and flying kits or gliders. And a bunch of kids were playing in this delightfully enormous sandbox.

Sully couldn’t resist rolling down the dune like he had as a kid himself, hehe. Silly boy.

I shall end with another of my favorite pictures from the trip: a rare selfie with the two of us that turned out super cute! 😀 Such good memories.

I hope you enjoyed scrolling through that barrage of photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. What a blessing of modern technology – the ability to capture and share the natural world in new ways! Feel free to use any of these photos as wallpaper for your personal computer or phone if you wish. 🙂

Do you prefer the cloudy or sunny ocean photos? Which of these landscapes would you most like to visit?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day.

***Allison***

P. S. Photos taken with my Nikon D7200 and a 35mm lens. Edited with Lightroom.