The Saltwater Retreat - October 2022
I chose to do something for myself. I made an investment in me and my photography!
I’d known of Jennifer Carr through the Click Community for several years. I always admired her photography and knew she ran a retreat in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Practically the moment I knew I was moving to North Carolina, I decided I would make going to the retreat a priority.
I planned for well over a year to attend. It gave me something to be excited about while moving to North Carolina (a place I’d never even visited before). There were some bumps along the road and sadly two of the ladies who were coming with me couldn’t make it. Then, I was super excited when my Mom was able to join me last minute!
We were nervous that we might be delayed because hurricane Ian decided to come for a visit September 30th and we need to drive out to Avon October 2nd! That gave us one day for the water to recede and the road to be cleared! Thankfully there was minimal water on the road and we made it out just fine.
As an introvert, going on my first retreat was a big deal for me. I definitely had first day jitters, but anxieties quickly melted away when Jennifer greeted us with warm hugs.
Finally I had made it to The Saltwater Retreat! Four days and five nights packed with learning, shopping, practicing and fun!
We would be staying in a large beach house. We each got our own room with huge king size beds and private bathrooms.
We met “Muffin”, Jen’s assistant, who is a wonderful cook and photographer and we also met another fellow attendee. Everyone was so kind and we all quickly became friends.
Normally the first day is all about meeting and getting settled, but since it looked like rain was on the way we went and shot the sunset over Pamlico Sound.
Day two we got up early for sunrise but a nor’easter came ripping through! All day the house shook, it was gray outside and the road washed out. Being in a house on stilts is quite interesting in the wind! It sort of felt like being on a boat. We even lost power for a little while that afternoon! Island beach living, lol! Mom and I decided to brave the weather and ventured outside to check out the ocean. The rest of the day was filled with learning, critique sessions and practice. The critique sessions ended up being one of my favorite parts of the retreat. It was incredibly helpful seeing each person’s favorites and then the photos we thought were missing something. I believe we all learned that we are our own worst critics! Muffin kept us well fed with amazing salads and soup and Jen even baked fresh bread! Muffin made cookies and creme brulee for dessert! We were well fed!
Day three due to road conditions, we had to stay on the island. We started at Avon Pier for sunrise and found six to ten foot waves! There wasn’t much of a sunrise due to the clouds but those waves were incredible! After the pier we got to enjoy breakfast from a popular local bakery. It was pretty tasty. We hung around the house for a few hours and worked on photos and Jen helped me answer a lot of questions. Since we wouldn’t be able to do the astrophotography session she taught me how to plan for one on my own. For our afternoon excursion we got to visit a neat little book shop before heading to Lighthouse Beach. Jen was delighted when we arrived, and told us we were in for a real treat! Boy was she right! The beach was packed with surfers, including a world famous surfer. Apparently hurricane Ian caused a back swell which was what gave us those large waves! It was very cool to watch and photograph! Seeing the surfers with the waves really helped give perspective of just how large they really were! It was fun watching the community out there supporting each other and having a good time. I have so many surfer photographs now it was very hard to narrow them down to just a few to share!
Day four brought another busy day of adventures. We headed back to the Avon Pier hoping for the elusive gorgeous sunrise. At least we got a slight tinge of pink with all the gray this time. The wave action was still really good and the surfers were literally running to the ocean! We decided to go on the pier which offered a new perspective. You could feel the power of the waves crashing into the pier! I loved watching the waves curl! It was fun seeing the surfers enjoy the ride. After breakfast, we made our way to Manteo since the road conditions had improved. We still had to drive around standing water blocking the lane in several places. It was misting, so sadly we skipped the Elizabethan Gardens. We enjoyed a delicious lunch out before wandering cute shops instead. We grabbed some soft serve ice cream at Surfin’ Spoon and swung by the Bodie Lighthouse on our way back to Avon. We didn’t stay long as it was cold, windy and we had boring gray skies. We stopped at a surf shop on the way back and shot sunset which gave us a sliver of color. Everyone was cold and frustrated with the blah skies all week. Jen joked that we were the retreat group to learn to shoot fifty shades of gray. We went to bed with hope that the last day would bring sunshine. Despite the weather we did learn a lot and I was loving being with the ladies.
Day five with the promise of sunshine, we started at the Avon Pier again. It was dramatically warmer and the seas were much calmer! It was still mostly cloudy but we got a tiny bit of color. It was so warm by lunchtime, we were able to eat outside on the deck! We headed to Pea Island to explore. I saw monarch butterflies, a skink and teeny tiny crabs. We actually got hot while exploring! We checked out the refuge and saw turtles and lots of far off migrating birds including white pelicans and a kingfisher. We headed to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse next and played with the starburst effect since we had full sunshine. We stopped to watch sunset on our way back to the beach house but with practically no clouds this time it wasn’t as exciting as we had hoped. Still, it was great seeing sunshine and it was a beautiful orange glow! We enjoyed one last evening of conversation together. It was hard to believe that it was all over already. It went by so fast!
The next morning, Mom and I took one more sunrise walk on the beach and then it was time to say goodbye. I will miss hanging out with these ladies. Hopefully we will all meet again in the future!
