The place:
The Martin County House of Refuge is the sole surviving house for shipwrecked sailors along the east coast of Florida (there were 10 of these).
There is a stretch of about 1 mile of coquina rock formations along the beach near the southern tip of Hutchinson Island. Coquina is a form of sandstone..
Capturing this place with a camera:
- My suggestion is to park in the Santa Lucea Beach parking area, and walk south beside the rock structures. They make a fine foreground for sunrise photos.
- Plan to arrive half an hour prior to the sunrise event itself and keep looking for photos an hour after. It is this next hour where a lot of the best photo opps happen.
- The seabirds, of all types are very common and excellent subjects. Use a fast shutter speed when photographing them.
- For the ocean, I would suggest the reverse, lately I have been slowing down my shutter speeds for the waves themselves as well as the waves hitting the rocks.
- During storms, this area is a lot of fun but use an older camera due to all of the windswept salty seaspray
Interesting fact about this place:
The House of Refuge tower was constructed in 1942 for the purposes of keeping watch for German U-boats during WWII.
