Chincoteague, Va., is one of my favorite places to take pictures. It has everything: lots of wildlife, a small town feel and a beautiful beach.

I took my second trip to Chincoteague this past February and as usual rose before sunrise every morning we were there.

One big advantage of visiting in the winter is sunrise is a little later than it is in the summer. I can get up at 6:30 AM and easily get presunrise and sunrise shots, where in the summer, well, the refuge opens at 5 A.M. You can do the math on that one.

This photo was taken a few minutes before eight o’clock on February 2. It was one of the prettiest sunrises I have seen in a long time. The colors shown here are pretty accurate to what I saw that morning. I did not pump the saturation to increase the color.

Another bonus to visiting the refuge in the winter, no mosquitoes!

Want to see other Chincoteague images, please click here! Thanks for reading. Have a great day.

Post Script: The famous and annual Chincoteague Pony Swim and Auction event starts three weeks from today, July 24.