A Surprise Every Morning: Sunrises Are Southampton Photographer's Specialty, and He Shares Them Daily on Instagram

Every day he’s in Southampton, Eric Nastri does the same exact thing.

And yet, he says, every day is a surprise.

For the past few years, Nastri has been waking up in darkness, sometime between 4:30 and 5 a.m., and heading to one of the ocean beaches in Southampton Village to photograph the sunrise. It’s a routine he has stuck to in earnest since moving to the area full time three years ago with his wife, Luisa Esposito, and three children: daughter Sophia, 22, and twin boys Jack and Luca, 19.

He shares the photos, and reels, on his Instagram page, southamptondailyphoto, which has racked up close to 5,000 followers.

The page is an explosion of brilliant color; a never-ending array of blues, purples, reds and oranges, reflecting off the ocean water and waves and mingling in with ever-changing cloud patterns and formations.

The posts are simple and minimalist for the most part, with occasional short messages, like “inhale,” “make MAGIC today,” “consider the possibilities,” and perhaps most insightful to his own personality, “the beach fixes everything.”

When Nastri first started taking daily sunrise photos at various Southampton Village beaches, he didn’t have any kind of plan or agenda, and largely still doesn’t. It was something that evolved organically, a habit born from his natural inclination to get up early, and his love for photography.

“I have a curse that I’m a morning person,” he said with a laugh during an interview earlier this week. “I’m up around 4:30 or 5 every day. Instead of sitting around, I get a cup of coffee and go for a walk.”

Nastri, 57, spent most of his formative years in Southampton, attending school there until he was 16, then moved to New Jersey, where he lived until recently. He still works, in the finance world, in New Jersey and commutes there from time to time for work, but at the request of his twin sons, made their second home in Southampton Village their full-time residence in 2023, selling their home in Montclair, New Jersey.

Nastri said that sharing his morning ritual with others through social media was something he simply felt compelled to do. It has certainly resonated. The nearly 5,000 followers are proof of that, and Nastri said that many people have approached him asking for prints of his sunrise photos, as well as other photos he takes in and around the village.

Nastri doesn’t have a favorite beach, he said, preferring to take turns hitting them all up on his morning walks.

“Wyandanch, Cryder, Coopers, Little Plains, Gin Lane — I go to them all,” he said. “I try to time it so I get there 15 to 20 minutes before the sunrise. Every morning, I’m in awe of the beauty of nature, and I feel so fortunate to be able to capture it and share it.”

Nastri spoke about what the beach means to him. “It’s my happy place,” he said. “It’s always a place where I’ve found solace and direction in my life.”

His photos have been picked up and shared by big accounts like longislandwiseguy, which has nearly 600,000 followers. Nastri said he’s also been proud that Coopers Beach has used his photos on its Instagram page, saying it made him feel like he played a small part in helping the beach earn the distinction of being rated the No. 1 beach in the country in one poll.

Photography has always been a passion project for Nastri. Before he started southamptondailyphoto, he had another popular Instagram account where he shared photos from the early morning hours in Times Square.

“Through my commute into Manhattan, I would be in Times Square between 6:30 and 7 a.m. in the morning, and I’d be the only person there, so it led to some really cool, interesting photography,” he said. Instagram eventually shut the account down. Nastri isn’t sure why, but speculated that maybe it had something to do with his photos including too many pictures of advertisers. Before long, he found another way to blend his loves of photography and early rising.

“I like to be in the moment as much as possible, and appreciate what it is that I’m experiencing,” he said of his photography and what motivates him. “Whether it’s in the middle of Manhattan in Times Square, or being able to witness the amazing sunrises that we’re all fortunate to have access to. But very few people get up that early and are disciplined enough to do it every day.”

Nastri’s photos capture the stunning beauty that’s present every morning, thanks to Mother Nature. He captures most of the photos with his smartphone, but also shoots with a Canon digital SLR camera as well.

He said that no matter the weather, he’s never disappointed when he heads to the ocean, in the darkness, with his phone in his pocket.

“Every morning is a surprise to me,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to get when I go down to the beach. You think it’s going to be a certain way, and then it ends up being something different.”

The moment is fleeting, but magical, he added.

“The interesting thing about the sun in the morning, is that the color moves, physically, through the morning, and it changes rapidly. It’s amazing. You have a window of three to five minutes to really catch the brilliance. You can blink and miss it. I often encounter people on their way down to the beach as the sun is just coming over the horizon, but the real show happens before the sun comes over the horizon.”

Nastri is still a few years away from retiring from his day job, but he’s already looking ahead to what’s next. Spending even more time at the beach, phone and camera in hand, are naturally a big part of his plans.

“I would love to make this my full-time profession,” he said. “It makes me happy to make other people happy. I love where we live, and I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to take advantage of it. I wish more people did.”

More of Nastri’s photography can be found at ericnastriphoto on Instagram.