Early Morning Sunrise Photography

Early morning photography at Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier in Florida

If you haven’t already read my post on enjoyable things to do on vacation in Cocoa Beach Florida, I would suggest reading it especially if you’ve never been to Cocoa Beach before.

If you enjoy taking early morning photos or just like getting up early to watch a beautiful sunrise at a nice location, you are in for a real treat here at the Cocoa Beach Pier. Depending on the season, the sun will be on different sides of the pier. The pier stretches out to the east which is also where the sun rises, but the sun will be more toward the south during winter and more toward the north during summer. So if you want the pier to appear more lit or appear more dark depends on which side you stand on.

A different atmosphere under the pier

Water rushing toward me underneith the pier.

Early morning photography – How to get the blur effect from moving water

If you are new to photography and are wondering how to get the blur effect from moving water like you see in the photo above it’s easy.

I was using a Canon camera with a tripod but most cameras work the same way.

I turned off the auto ISO settings, (the sensor sensitivity settings) put the camera on a tripod, used a remote so I didn’t shake the camera when I pressed the button and that’s about it.

You may have to adjust a couple of other settings to fine tune it, like the f-stop and shutter speed but that’s about it. Keep in mind, the darker it is the longer the shutter needs to open if you are keeping the ISO down. The shutter speed is exactly what will affect the look of the water. So, to get the perfect look, you may need to bump up the ISO just a little bit, or wait until the sun comes up a little more so you have the right amount of light to produce whatever type of look that you are wanting in your photo.

It’s important to use a tripod because if you are leaving the camera shutter open longer to get the blur effect of the water, your entire photo will become blurry if you are holding the camera in your hands.

Surfer at Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier FL

Surfer arives early at Cocoa Beach Pier

Cocoa Beach is well known for surfing and there are many surfing schools and places to buy or rent surf boards here as well. If you didn’t know, this is the same beach where the surfing legend Kelly Slater, winner of 11 world championships grew up. Cocoa Beach is the perfect beach to learn to surf. The waves here are small to medium sized and it’s pretty shallow for a long way out. It’s easy to swim and relax in the waters without a board as well.

Enjoy your time at Cocoa Beach, FL, and good luck with your early morning photography!

Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier

Address: 401 Meade Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL
Website: https://www.cocoabeachpier.com/

Enjoyable things to do on vacation in Cocoa Beach, FL

Did you get a photo of the pier early in the morning that you would like to share? Got any early morning photography tips you would like to share? Have any questions about photography? Your ideas and thoughts are welcomed in the comments below!