This image is bursting with color and texture.
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Within this image I have found the miraculous interaction of fire and water elements in a perfectly balanced mix.
Read MoreHONEY
Photography can mean many different things to people. My style of image making aligns with my inherently introverted tendencies. In the past I often wondered why I have gravitated towards solitude. Some possible reasons I have concluded for deeply valuing my alone time are as follows…
I am an “only child”, so solitude is familiar to me.
I am challenged daily by a chronic illness which can cause me great discomfort and a desire to isolate.
I have a mind which is easily overwhelmed by complex social situations.
I suppose the reasons matter less to me these days. I am satisfied to become more aware of my needs, and to do my best to live in accordance with them.
Contrastingly, photography also allows me to meet my desires for connecting with people. It allows me time to be alone while I create images, but then I can share those images and my experience with others. It is a reasonable mix for a social person with introverted tendencies like myself. Being in the ocean creating images to share with others helps me to be alone, but not lonely.
My photographic aspirations consistently have me searching for a wave which breaks with a certain type of shape and intensity which I then try to capture. If I know this particular type of wave is located on an unpopular stretch of beach, then this becomes my happy space.
I am wearing a light wetsuit with bare arms as I enter the ocean, mostly just to keep the slight chill in the air off my body. The water feels warm compared to the slight offshore breeze. This is the type of day when the beaches get crowded with people looking to enjoy the beach in the way they understand it. Being in the water before the sun comes up means those people are nowhere to be seen. I can even get the very best parking spot.
To capture these colors and intense contrast, being in the water before sunrise is critical. The conditions required to make this image are fleeting and do not happen frequently in this area.
The naming process happens after the image is made and edited. Naming conventions have multiple potential sources of inspiration. For this image the name is derived purely from the visual aspects of the gelatinous appearance of the water (created by using appropriate shutter speed), and the golden hue of the morning sunrise being reflected from the wave’s surface.
PLUNGE
Where a few hours earlier I had felt fear and excitement, I now felt gratitude and calmness.
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