One of the nice things about dragging myself out of bed at 6:15 was the friendliness of the other crazies early risers. Everyone seemed happy that I was taking pictures of the beautiful sunrise and I got a lot of waves and smiles. Turns out I had forgotten to put pants on. Kidding!

I got tickled at the people who would stop so they wouldn’t get in my shot, even though I was really just fiddling with the zoom or checking to see if the camera was level. Don’t worry, folks, that sun isn’t going anywhere. After it happened a few times, I was sure to stand up when people were about to go by so I wouldn’t interrupt their walk.

A group of women waved, asked if I’d seen the dolphin, and pointed down the beach to where they had spotted one earlier. I thanked them but I had no intention of walking along the beach because I was sleepy and probably suffering significant blood loss from all the bugs. The sun had risen, the pelicans were calmly gliding along the tops of the waves, and nothing else was going on so I decided to pack it in.

I had the tripod back in its case and was packing up the camera when I heard a few splashes behind me. The pelicans were diving for their breakfast. I had to try to catch them in the act. read more »