The Foxes of Brigantine Beach

In the shadow of the glitz and hustle-bustle of Atlantic City lies one of the most peaceful beaches along the NJ coast. Both the north and south ends of Brigantine beach are quite isolated from the residential areas, and there is no boardwalk to draw throngs of crowds.

I spent a beautiful morning recently along the southern end, where the casinos of A.C. loom across the water. There is a wide area of brush and dunes between the houses and the beach, and this is where I found a bunch of foxes making their home.





I didn't see all of them all at once. First there was just one that peeked out from the tall grass, then another. They stayed near the dunes as I was about 50 feet away on the beach. I was making some progress getting fairly close to one of them that was resting on a pile of sand and leaves. This one was gnawing on a piece of wood that sticking from the sand.





At this point the foxes became spooked by someone walking down the path through the dunes. I thought my morning was done here, and was planning to move on to another location, but I soon discovered that the foxes were not so easily scared away. They came back within a few minutes, and I soon realized that there were at least five different foxes in this area.





I continued shooting them for a while, and even when I decided to finally leave and move on they kept an eye on me as I was walking back down the path. One even made itself very comfortable in the middle of the path, as if to show me the way out.





This was a very enjoyable morning at this peaceful beach. It was the middle of winter, and for much of the time I could not see another soul up or down the beach. The constant breaking of the waves was very relaxing - these foxes have picked a great place to live.

Main Website: Photography by Matt Schrier
 

Ocean City - New Years Eve

We spent our last day of 2009 in Ocean City NJ. As many other towns do they put on a First Night event in which attendees pay a fixed price and get the chance to either see many different performances or (for the kids mainly) take advantage of hands-on fun such as mini-golf and kiddie rides.

Kathy's dance group (the Crossroads Irish dance group) put on a couple of performances for the crowds. The kids and I played mini-golf and saw acts such as Trout Fishing in America and Broadway by Request.

The weather was overcast and a little rainy, and before seeing Trout Fishing at the music pier I caught this image of the boardwalk stretching into the darkness. Without a tripod I managed to get one clear shot.

Bone Chilling Cold

The weather is decidedly nasty to start the new year. Although there are parts of the country that are much colder, walking the dog in 20 degree weather in a blowing wind is not my idea of a good time. This kind of weather puts a real damper on my desire to get out with my camera and find something unique in the colorless, bare-tree environment that surrounds us.

So instead I'll post another work of digital art. I took this shot of a sunflower a few years ago, but it did not knock me over as a straight photo. I like it much better after massaging it in my digital darkroom.



Main website: Photography by Matt Schrier
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