Dawn light silhouettes crab houses on Virginia’s Tangier Island in an image captured by photographer Jay Fleming. Heading out by boat on a February morning to shoot oystermen at work, he came upon this scene—one of the most beautiful sunrises he’d ever witnessed. “I spent about 15 minutes shooting it,” he recalls. “The colors were constantly changing as the sun got closer to rising.” After years spent documenting the Chesapeake region’s seafood industry, the former National Geographic photographer has published two books on the topic, including the recent Island Life.

PHOTO: Jay Fleming