With past outings to capture sea smoke, one issue that has come up is that the mist rising from the ocean usually forms a thick band of fog at the horizon blocking any hopes of accompanying sunrise color.  On Sunday, February 14, I arrived at Fort Beach to find the sky turning pink as pillars of sea smoke formed in front of and behind Marblehead Light.

I captured several frames before the sun rose above the fog bank but this image of a sea smoke sunrise may be my favorite of them.  You can see the light of the sun illuminating a patch of fog to the right of the lighthouse while the sea smoke has turned a purplish hue reflecting some of the light in the sky.  The lighthouse’s green beacon remained on for its last few moments and, just as I clicked the shutter, a sea gull flew through the smoke adding some life to the scene.