New England has had a very warm winter this year, but on Saturday January 20th when I took this photo it seemed like winter was just about to start. With the daytime temperature hovering around freezing and a northwest wind blowing at 20-30 mph it was pretty chilly.
In a storm over Thanksgiving 2006 Monomoy Island joined the mainland. The "sand bridge" that now connects South Beach to the north tip of Monomoy is about 5 miles from the Chatham Light, a long walk in the sand that I had done the week before. I had seen these branches buried in the beach on that walk and taken a couple of photos of them on the way to Monomoy, one of which I was happy with and is in my gallery. As I returned I formed an image similar to this, but my own footprints around the branches spoiled it. I got the chance to try again on this 2nd trip.
The branches in the foreground frame this shot but the additional elements, the blowing sand where the branches emerge, the breaking waves with wind blown caps, and the fishing vessel in the distance tie this together for me. The soft early morning light of winter wrap it up.
I hope you like it.