There were about 11 extremely photogenic fishing piers on the Atlantic Coast of North Carolina in the Outer Banks area. However, this is also a region that is repeatedly hit by deadly storms & hurricanes almost every year, slowly destroying many of these fascinating piers. Finally in 2018, one of the most iconic fishing piers in Hatteras completely vanished, after surviving two years of continuous hurricanes & deadly Atlantic waves.
Shown in the yellow box on the map above is where the iconic Outer Banks fishing pier of Hatteras used to be. I spent 2 nights one April in 2017 just to photograph this iconic pier, which was already broken by the time & blocked from public access.
Nags Head Pier, Outer Banks coast of North Carolina
On the way was another iconic fishing pier on the Outer Banks, the Nags Head. It was late afternoon when we passed Nags Head. We waited till after sunset to get some long exposure & blue hour shots of this very long fishing pier.
When we arrived, it was extremely windy and there were thick dark clouds, an ideal situation for some dramatic black & white shots. The waves were strong and it was hard to keep the tripod steady with the back sweeps from the waves that lashed onto the beach.
A couple of hours later the scene completely changed. From storms and dark clouds to completely serene blue sky with almost no winds at all. In April, it was still very cold and the coast was almost empty by the afternoon. At sunset, it was just the couple of us on the entire mile of pristine sand and sky.
The next 2 days & nights were focused on the Frisco fishing pier. This iconic pier was built in the 1960s & was abandoned in around 2008. Subsequently it fell into disrepair. This pier was severely damaged in 2010 by the hurricane Earl. It was decided to be demolished soon after, and finally it was removed in 2018.
Read more about the Frisco Fishing Pier in Outer Banks here.
See more Sunset & Sunrise images here.
Prints available for some of these images on the Shop page.
The next two mornings and evenings were a roller coaster of thundering clouds, rain, brilliant sunrise, catchy sunset and everything in between. We started shooting from 6 AM in the morning & stayed up later into the evening to make the best use of every opportunity to shoot this broken, abandoned landmark.
Clouds were rolling in as fast as they were disappearing. Fortunately for us, our hotel were steps away from this location and we were the only visitors on the beach at this odd time of the year. Having the beach to ourselves was a definite advantage, however, betting on the weather was a tricky business.
The sunset was not any less challenging, with the sun and thick clouds playing dramatic scenes every now & then. However, I was lucky to get a break just as the sun was around the horizon. The sky turned from orange & blue to pink & purple for about a few minutes.
That was my lucky break and even though the wind was strong and the waves were rough, I was able to get some long exposures, while almost burying my tripod into the moving sand as best as I could. I had no intention of doing any black & white since the scenes were quite animated with the colors of the rain, clouds, sun, sand and the surf.
If you are planning to visit OBX, some of the best information is on the Outer Banks website. Sadly though, when we went back to Frisco & Hatteras a year later, the Frisco pier was completely gone and all we could see were the remains of a few stumps on the desolate coast!