I just couldn’t wait to share this image until Monday so here is a rare Sunday shot showcasing an incredible moment capturing sea smoke off Devereux Beach as the sun rose behind Tinker’s Island.

After the storm blew through and left us with almost two feet of snow, an arctic air mass was due to envelope Marblehead and with the near zero degree temperatures came the chance of seeing sea smoke.  I had only seen sea smoke on a few occasions since moving to Marblehead and have never missed a chance to go out and capture the fleeting phenomenon.  On Saturday morning, I left the house with a few ideas in mind and was thrilled to see the car’s thermometer measuring a truly arctic 2 F outside.  I had hoped to see some of the sea smoke inside Marblehead harbor but was disappointed as I crossed the causeway in my view to the left.  To the right, I saw incredible amounts of smoke encircling Tinker’s Island but kept driving with other compositions in mind.

After circling Marblehead Neck and not finding the amount of sea smoke I had hoped for at either Castle Rock or Chandler Hovey Park, I came back to the causeway and parked to capture the view of Tinker’s Island and the sea smoke coming off the gentle waves.  I started off capturing a great dawn with pink clouds high in the sky.  I actually had gone back into the car and put the camera in the bag getting ready to find another spot when I started seeing a brilliant red forming behind Tinker’s Island.  I quickly ran back out and switched to my longest zoom lens.  As I set up, I started seeing the first light of the rising sun coming up directly behind Tinker’s Island.  The shallow angle of the sun was backlighting the sea smoke and making it look as though the ocean was on fire.  As I fired off shots hoping to catch the peak of color, the entire sky seemed to catch fire and turned this incredible red.  I managed to keep the clouds overhead in the composition and caught their reflected color as well.

I continued to shoot after this and found some more great compositions featuring sea smoke which persisted long after sunrise.  When I got home, I hoped the camera was able to capture this perfect moment (the lighting conditions were really challenging) and was thrilled to see this image pop up on my screen.

After over three years and some 840 images of Marblehead shared on this site, I remain in awe at just how much beauty can be found in this town.