Hilton Head Island in South Carolina is a place of beauty that I’d heard about in the past, so with flights available from Canada to the USA, off we went. Hilton Head Island is a place of windswept beaches, sand dunes, tranquil waterways and marshes. The Spanish moss draping from live oak trees is a beautiful sight to behold. It’s also known as a golfing destination, but the only thing I shoot with is my camera.
We rented a house and stayed in the central part of the island close to Singleton beach. From there we could drive to Harbour Town Lighthouse on the south part of the island in 22 minutes or we could drive to Fish Haul Beach Park on the northern side in 12 minutes. It’s rather a small island and this was a great central location from where we could explore the island.
For the most part, I had a beach bike that I used every morning to bike up and down the stretch of the beach with the sun rising up over the ocean. The sand is firm and perfect for biking on with the fat beach bike tires. Whether biking on the beach or on the in-land bike trails, Hilton Head Island has been called one of the most bike-friendly destinations in the United States thanks to hard-packed sand beaches and more than 60 miles of scenic, multi-use bike trails. Since the island is flat, it’s easy for the whole family to enjoy a bike ride together. So here are some of my favorite places to visit and photograph while visiting the island. Hope you enjoy the photos!
Fish Haul Beach Park
Nestled in Bay Gall, Fish Haul Beach is one of the hidden gems of this island. This is a quiet, beautiful stretch of beach where the kids can find small shells when the tide goes out and photographically, it’s a beach with natural beauty. The beach is not crowded unlike other the beaches and there’s lots of shorebirds to photograph. This photo was taken with a 16-35mm lens; in AV mode; at f/11 with an ISO setting of 100; shutter speed of 1/30 sec.
Singleton beach
There’s a beach for every type of traveler on Hilton Head Island. Singleton Beach still maintains a large beach area and is located in the middle of the island. This beach has some of the best surfing waves for surfing surrounded with beautiful sand. It’s a busier beach but if you get there at sunrise, there is no crowd. The sea turtle nesting season along South Carolina’s coast runs from May through October, so you might get lucky enough to spot some of the young turtles making their way back to the sea. This photo was taken with a 24-105mm lens; in AV mode; at f/11 with an ISO setting of 100; shutter speed of 1/8 sec.
Harbour Town Lighthouse
Most people will recognize Hilton Head Island by its iconic red and white striped lighthouse, which is located in Harbour Town on the southern side of the island. From this location you can capture beautiful sunsets. You need to buy a Sea Pines visitor day pass in order to drive here. For those that like to shop and dine, this is also a great location. You can book a dolphin-sighting or adventure cruise at the local marina. We saw dolphins, blue herons & pelicans right off the dock while we were there. This photo was taken with a 16-35mm lens; in AV mode; at f/11 with an ISO setting of 100; shutter speed of 1/30 sec.
Sea Pines
Sea Pines is a 5,000-acre community with private homes as well as a resort, forest preserve, PGA Tour golf course, marina and a lively town center. It’s the most popular estate on the island and $6 will get you into Sea Pines to explore all the fun activities. We decided to take a one hour guided boat tour through the lakes of the Sea Pines Forest Preserve. The guide was fantastic with great knowledge of the local wildlife, especially the alligators. This boat tour run by “Alligator & Wildlife Boat Tour”, was a great way to capture some close-up shots of the local wildlife as well as indigenous plants to the area. This photo was taken with a 70-200mm lens; in AV mode; at f/11 with an ISO setting of 800; shutter speed of 1/200 sec.
Folly Field Beach Park
Folly Field Beach Park is located off of Folly Field Road and is the most northeastern beach park on the island. There’s a beautiful boardwalk that winds through a natural environment leading to the beach. Sunrise photos are very nice from this location. This photo was taken with a 24-105mm lens; in AV mode; at f/11. with an ISO setting of 100; shutter speed of 1/50 sec
Conclusion
There’s so much more to see and do on this pretty island, but we hope this will give you a flavor for what’s in store. We hope you enjoyed our “Photo Adventures on Hilton Head Island” and will stay in touch with us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Dulis is a Canadian photographer and visual storyteller that has been involved with large format inkjet printing from the early stages and has written numerous articles for magazines such as Graphic Arts Magazine, Visual Wilderness, Luminous Landscape, Photo News and is know as a wide format printing specialist. Peter shares many of his tips and techniques in his monthly newsletter – PhotographyAdventures.ca and PeterDulisPhotography.com
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