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With nearly 12,000 miles of varied
coastline and an abundance of wildlife, there are plenty of
photo opportunities in the Chesapeake Bay area. This holds
especially true for those adventurous souls willing to get
off the beaten path and follow in the wake of the famous
Captain John Smith, who explored the Bay 400 years ago in a
sailing barge with a small band of intrepid English
colonists. The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National
Historic Trail—one of the newest units of the National
Park Service and America’s first national water trail—commemorates this event, and today beckons photographers to
explore the Chesapeake’s remaining wild spaces.
Much of the Chesapeake can be explored by auto and on foot,
but to truly experience the remotest parts of the Bay, boat
travel is recommended. Kayaks are probably best suited for
Chesapeake exploration, as they allow access to many hidden
coves and marshes that have water too shallow for motor
boats. If traveling on the water, make sure you have proper
instruction and necessary safety equipment, and always wear
a personal floatation device. Keep an eye out for inclement
weather, particularly the many violent thunderstorms common
in the summer months—the last place you want to be in a
lightning storm is on open waters or within a salt marsh
with little or no shelter. Also, during the summer, biting
insects can be abundant, so bring plenty of bug spray!
What follows are some of my favorite locations to shoot on
the Chesapeake and its tidal rivers:
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Located in the vast tidal marshes of
Dorchester County on Maryland’s famous Eastern Shore of the
Chesapeake Bay, Blackwater is a beacon for wildlife and
photographers alike. The refuge is a major stop on the
Atlantic Flyway and a sanctuary for the threatened American
bald eagle and the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel. The
refuge’s Wildlife Drive takes visitors past the scenic salt
marshes, forests, and fields of Blackwater Marsh, and gives
the photographer close access to many species. Year-round
residents include bald eagles and great blue herons; summer
brings great egrets; whereas winter darkens the sky with
huge flocks of snow and Canada geese, and even brings
otherwise “exotic” species such as white pelicans, which in
recent years have been seen at Blackwater. Bring as many
long telephoto lenses as you can stuff in your camera bag—in a place like Blackwater, you are going to need all of
them.
Great
blue heron at sunset, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Calvert Cliffs
Pastel blue and yellow cliffs rising
as high as 200 feet from the water line Maryland’s Western
Shore for forty miles. Over 600 species of fossils have been
identified from these cliffs, with the teeth of various
species of shark being the most abundant. The easiest places
to access the Cliffs are Calvert Cliffs State Park, Flag
Ponds Nature Center, and Bayfront Park (located in the town
of Chesapeake Beach). Bayfront Park in particular is a great
place to get to the cliffs at sunrise, when the light is at
its best. Be prepared to wade in the water at high tide; low
tide reveals extensive tidal flats and mirror-like tide
pools.
Red rock at Calvert Cliffs
Smith and Tangier Islands
Located in the middle of the Bay and
reachable only by boat, Smith Island (in Maryland) and
Tangier Island (right across the border in Virginia) are a
window into the Chesapeake’s past. Small towns cling to
existence on these isolated islands, where the Chesapeake’s
famous watermen continue to ply their trades—fishing,
crabbing, and oyster harvesting. Between the two islands
exist an archipelago of smaller island, some no more than
mere sandbars barely above the high tide line. In the
summer, thousands of terns, gulls, cormorants, and brown
pelicans come to these islands to nest, making this one of
the premier (although virtually unknown!) wildlife viewing
destinations in the Eastern United States. Smith or Tangier
Island both make excellent staging grounds for exploration
of the archipelago, but a boat or kayak is needed to explore
the region (rentals can be obtained on Smith or Tangier
Island).
Double crested cormorant chicks
Mathews County
Mathews County in Virginia is
a sea kayaker’s paradise. Largely undeveloped with
miles of pristine white sandy beaches and numerous
small uninhabited islands, one can spend weeks
exploring and photographing. The highlight of the
area is New Point Comfort Preserve, at the southern
tip of the Mathews County peninsula. Here, one can
photograph a gorgeous wild beach and numerous
shorebirds, osprey and eagles. To top it all off,
just offshore is a beautiful historic white stone
lighthouse. New Point Comfort Preserve, the
lighthouse, and much of this area can only be
reached by boat or kayak, although a lovely stretch
of wild beach—Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve—
can be reached by car.
Sunrise, New Point Comfort
Lighthouse
Virginia Beach
Although not wild by any
stretch of the imagination, the hyper-developed area
around Virginia Beach, Virginia nonetheless has many
great photo opportunities. First Landing State Park—right in the middle of Virginia Beach—is a
location steeped in history and natural beauty.
Photographic opportunities abound. Here one can find
acres of beautiful bald cypress swamp with trees
draped in Spanish moss. During the summer, pods of
bottlenose dolphins can be seen frolicking in the
waters offshore. During the winter, humpback whales
come to feed in the nutrient rich waters where the
Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The whales are best
observed from one of several whale-watching tours
that depart from Virginia Beach on a daily basis.
Humpback whale lunge feeding
Janes Island State Park
Janes Island is completely
undeveloped and isolated from the mainland. You can
reach the mainland part of the park by car, but to
reach Janes Island itself, you need a boat, canoe,
or kayak (the park offers canoe and kayak rentals).
With more than 30 miles of water trails winding
through classic Chesapeake salt marsh, and more than
5 miles of unspoiled sandy beach, Janes Island
offers wild adventure. Opportunities for wildlife
and scenic photography abound.
Oystercatcher with a tasty prize,
Janes Island |
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