Image shot on Isle of Palms, South Carolina at sunrise. Caption: People are silhouetted as they walk along the beach toward a sunrise appearing as a giant ball, May 7, 2023 in Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

Technique: Shot using a Sony RX-10 Mark IV superzoom bridge-camera handheld. Built in zoom at 1200mm (optical 600mm plus digital zoom at 100%). Aperture: f/9, Shutter 1/1600, ISO 500, Auto WB, JPEG Fine capture, exposure comp -2/3. I had an optical polarizing filter on lens. Shot into the rising sun causing silhouettes of the people and the angle and polarizer caused the red/orange coloration. Image shot at 6:20am, just a minute or two after official sunrise.

Processed in lightroom -0.50 exposure, +14 contrast, -30 highlights, +29 whites, +14 clarity, +11 dehaze, +26 vibrance.

Notes: During the late spring and summer months the sunrise on the Isle of Palms is directly over the beach as the island runs mostly northeast - southwest. When the sunrises over the Atlantic Ocean it appears to be sitting on top of the beach, more so when shot with a long lens. The nearly 100% humidity causes bright colors reflected through the sky for about 10 minutes after sunrise.

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