An Anatomy of a Pamlico River Sunset | Eastern North Carolina Now

    O'kay, I will admit this one truth: This is what I do to have fun. I take pictures of sunsets, and sunrises - mostly at the beach. And yes, I am spellbound at just how unique the Washington downtown waterfront is situated to accentuate the immeasurable beauty of the sun's last gasp.

    Washington, North Carolina sits on the northern bank of the Pamlico River, where the broad river narrows near the western edge of Beaufort County. Washington is the county seat of Beaufort County for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the aforementioned fact of the river narrows. A second geographic factor that may have made a difference many centuries ago when Beaufort County, one of the oldest counties in North Carolina, was being settled and populated by Europeans is the that Washington faces mostly south, affording its early inhabitants the full winter sun.
Here we were on the second day of November, and already there were decorations up for Christmas: Above. Washington waterfront fixture, the schooner, Jeanie B.: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click image to expand.


    In respect to the winter sun, Washington mostly faces southwest as the Pamlico River from northwest to southeast, with the river running about 22 degrees south off the west /east axis. This may be the single greatest factor as to why I am smitten with sunsets, as my many volumes of images attest to the sun departing the lighted world, as the 'night divides the day.'

    Other factors that were readily apparent on this Saturday evening, November 2, 2013, was the virtually flat surface of the Pamlico and the near perfect position of the clouds.
Here we have a new sailboat on Washington's waterfront. I'll probably get another chance to shoot this before too long: Above. Looking away from the setting sun, across the narrows of the Pamlico River, we catch a glimpse of the lush layers of cirrus clouds, a most necessary ingredient to the premium sunset: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click image to expand.

    These factors are what I consider when it comes to whether to take my camera case downtown when we (my wife and I) take our walks, and, moreover, whether I take my camera out of the case I am preparing for the constitutional. On this evening, with the southwesterly clouds not blocking the sun, but most of the rest of the sky thick with cirrus clouds, I was ready to fire away with my little Canon.
That same sailboat with the ever changing backdrop: Above. The sky started filling up with color from the unique cloud patterns, so I began shooting in all directions, like northeast here: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click image to expand.

    This one November sunset was completely predicated upon the clouds, and the slick surface of the Pamlico, and to best sum up my thoughts as to what lay next was: Let the fireworks begin.
The flagmast moved to the Respess Street proximity: Above. Looking northeast from the waterfront: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click image to expand.

    This is the transition point in this series where the sun has fully set, but because of the nature of the cloud construction, we have so much further to go before this series is done.
Looking southwest: Above. Looking southeast: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage    Click image to expand.


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