Beach Umbrella in the sun

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Our beach umbrella in the early morning sun at Cocoa Beach in Florida. 

This beach umbrella has made several travels with us now, saving our skin for four years. We got it after a full day in the sun at Gulf Shores, Alabama. We figured that just buying our own umbrella would be easier than trying to get one of the umbrellas there at the beach. It turned out to be a good investment. This umbrella has been to several beaches now, although it has seen the most action at Cocoa Beach. 

But on our last day this past summer at Cocoa Beach, we didn't get to put out our umbrella. A tropical storm was out in the Atlantic, far enough away that it wasn't threatening our vacation. But the winds were pretty strong. Strong enough that it kept blowing beach umbrellas all around. So we decided to do without for the day. Which made us appreciate our umbrella all the more.

Not bad for a $20 umbrella from Wal-Mart.

Photo location: Lori Wilson Park, Cocoa Beach, Florida

A three-exposure (-2, 0, +2) HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, edited in GIMP