The Second Avenue Pier in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is the subject in this shot. It was shot during a family vacation in August 2018.
Find A Pier
On every trip, I have at least one image I want to make. This particular trip, I wanted to hopefully shoot some gators at Huntington Beach State Park and shoot a pier around dusk. With that in mind, I just needed to find a pier. Soon after arriving, I spotted the pier from the balcony of our hotel. We were on the 19th floor. So, it looked pretty far away. I needed more information. A quick Google search told me it was the Second Avenue Pier, and GPS indicated that it was about a mile down the beach. The plan was coming together.
Plan The Shoot
We got settled, and family members were still trickling in from their journeys. This created some down time to make my way to the pier. First, I needed to know the sunset time. Second, how long was it going to take me to walk?
Walking In The Sand
I gathered up my gear and headed down the beach. Walking in the sand is hard… Walking a mile in the sand is even harder. I walked on the packed sand close to the water. As a result of walking close to the water, the waves coming in wet up the bottom of my sweatpants. I was wearing water shoes, but the wet pants made for an uncomfortable walk.
Get The Shot
Regardless of the wet pants, I was determined to get my shot. So, I kept walking. I reached a point where the beach was separated by a channel. This caused me to have to leave the beach for a little while. I had to take the sidewalk along the main road to get around the channel.
At The Pier
After the diversion, I was back on the beach and at the Second Avenue Pier. By now my sweatpants were wet up the knee – super discomfort. My arrival was just prior to sunset, which was perfect. The light allowed me some time to take a look at the scene and come up ideas of how I wanted to shoot the pier. By the time I got my tripod setup, the sun was starting to set. It was time to start shooting.
Long Exposure
With each shot, my exposure time got longer. That was exactly what I wanted. The long exposure would give me the smooth water look I wanted in my images. I moved around the pier to shoot from different angles. As with my shoot at Highland Arch Bridge, the shot that I planned to take was not the final. With my wet pants and shoes, I took the sidewalk back to the hotel.
