Melbourne Beach, Florida

Last night was obviously the full moon. Sitting at my computer that particular fact became apparent as soon as the moon rose above the trees. I could not help but notice the beautiful white light streaming through the back door window. I grabbed the camera and tripod, threw on a coat and ran outside to see what I could capture. It was just too bright! I was totally unprepared to make the necessary setting adjustments to capture what I was seeing in my head. I’ll have to try again tonight after I investigate some lunar photography tips.

How does this little story bring me to today’s image? Good question! I’m not totally sure I have a good answer but it goes something like this…

The need to run outside and capture an image of the moon was powerful. It wasn’t so I could show off the image here or exclaim my prowess with my camera. It was a desire to create an image, one I have in my head, one I probably saw somewhere else and now want to create myself. It is a really cool feeling to have. It can be frustrating too.

After I reviewed what I captured of the moon and realized I didn’t have the proper exposures to create my image, I started looking through my library of images. Now I had to create something. There are a lot of images that I take that sit on my hard drive waiting for me to do something with them. Not everyone is a prize but I captured it for a reason. Sometimes that reason is just the attempt at capturing the scene before me. Sometimes it is for an image I have in my head but haven’t brought it to life yet.

I went back to the images of my December trip to Florida. I remember the morning of this image. I was on a mission this day! I wanted to capture a sunrise at the beach with glorious waves crashing to the shore as the sun broke the horizon. It is an image I have seen numerous times from photographers that I follow online and I wanted one for myself. The wind was there to create the waves, the sun was obviously going to rise that morning. I just had to contend with the clouds and the morning mist.

And then I spotted this person standing at the edge of the shore. Staring out into the ocean as the sun began to paint the clouds. It wasn’t the image I set out to capture but the moment of this solitude connected with me. I swung the camera around and composed this image.

It was then I stopped and took in where I was standing. I listened to the sounds of the ocean, I could smell the salt in the air and watched as the gulls flew over the breaking waves. What a great morning to be at the beach! I was caught up in trying to get my image but now I was caught up in just being at the beach.

I think it is time to go back already… 🙂

Solitude
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/3s, 31mm, f/16, ISO 200