On a recent trip to the beach, I wanted a plan to find some sort of subject more than the cold deserted beach in the winter. Structures around water can provide for some fantastic images.

I did some Google Maps searching for docks, piers, and jetties in the Bethany Beach, Deleware area. It didn't take too long to identify the Ocean City, Maryland Pier because it was made of wood pilings, it was the right height and weather conditions looked good. I wanted a morning that would be a little moody and have some waves. It also helped that it was the only pier for about 40 miles.

Since 1907, the Ocean City Pier has been an icon for tourists. Since it was first built, the pier has been beat-up by storms and even damaged by fire. Tropical Storm Sandy took its toll on the pier in 2012 demolishing much of the decking from the seaside end towards the beach. In December 1925, a huge fire destroyed the pier and several blocks of the downtown area.

A very cold and windy morning to make the image, but I had the beach to myself. This kind of picture is created with long exposures of about 25 seconds. A regular photograph might be about 1/60 of a second. The long exposure turns all the crashing waves into a light white cotton candy look near the edge of the beach.

A good plan and I was happy with the results.