While I was in the South Carolina last spring I wanted to photograph a sunrise at one of the boneyard beaches in the area. Up and down the East Coast you can find beaches with remains of driftwood trees along the water’s edge. In some cases, the trees have fallen over exposing the roots to the elements. In other cases, parts of the trees are still standing in the water or on the shore. These beaches have come to be known as boneyards.

I did get to Hunting Island State Park outside of Bluffton for sunrise one morning. It was one of those morning with enough cloud cover that it was possible I was going to see an incredible sunrise – or it was going to be one of those mornings where not much happened. As it turned out – early on I saw some wonderful shades of blue, with a bit of pink and purple. Then the cloud layer thickened and the color washed out above them.

Here are some of my photos of the driftwood along the beach

Sunrise at Hunting Island State Park © 2015 Patty Hankins

Sunrise at Hunting Island State Park © 2015 Patty Hankins

Sunrise at Hunting Island State Park © 2015 Patty Hankins

As I lost the good light over the driftwood, I walked over to a nearby beach to catch the color reflecting in the sand as the tide went out

Sunrise at Hunting Island State Park © 2015 Patty Hankins

And then just as the sun came up – it brightened up the clouds

Sunrise at Hunting Island State Park © 2015 Patty Hankins

I’m heading back to South Carolina in a couple of weeks – one of the things I’m hoping to do is photograph another sunrise or two at one of the boneyard beaches. I”m hoping I get photos that better convey the magic of the driftwood on the beach than this set does