A long telephoto lens sends me to a visual wonderland. It’s a challenging space, but at the same time, I find it to be most entertaining and rewarding. I really never know what I’m going to end up with.
The lure of the unknown is what I turn back to every chance I get. I lose track of time and find peace for a while—you could say it’s my refuge.
My sweetheart Pittie, Shadow, and I often take afternoon or evening walks along the Belmont Slough, the Foster City path behind my house and onto the much longer Redwood Shores path.
One section of the path, on the Redwood Shores side, is right next to the water and only a foot or so higher than the water level. Here the Slough is in the direct path of a wind tunnel coming from the Pacific Ocean on the west; the water flows Eastward into San Francisco Bay.
Late in the evening, when the sun is setting and the ever-present chilling summer wind is strongest, it’s the most mesmerizing time to be in that Slough—filled with anticipation of what may be found if one looks long enough.
I’d noticed that one part of this section, about twenty feet or so long, was producing relatively wider and higher waves than the rest of the Slough. Just to put things in perspective, the waves were about a foot wide and around four to six inches tall. The waves outside of that area were half as wide and tall.
I experimented a few times to see if I had a chance of capturing something with these waves. Then I realized that jumping around here and there, trying to anticipate how the waves would unfold (I had to manually focus due to low light conditions) was entertaining, but the strategy didn’t produce anything worthwhile.
After few tries, I changed my strategy and returned during high tide to get wider and higher waves. I resisted chasing the waves.
Choosing a pair of promising waves as they started to form, I focused on the valley between the waves where millions of reflections were dancing around. I clicked away when a flash of shape caught my eye. I stayed focused on the wave valley until it reached the end of the journey and turned into choppy water.
On the day that I shot this photo, everything was ideal and I was so consumed that didn’t realize it was getting pretty late and my sweet Shadow who was leaning on my leg, was shivering from the cold wind.
It was one of my attempts. The wind had died down so the waves were not as fast moving and chaotic. I stayed focused in the wave valley that I was following in the hope of catching a reflection that would make my day.
All of a sudden there it was. This space ship appeared in a flash and disappeared just as quickly. But fortunately it was near where I was maintaining focus, so I was able to take two or three shots before it cloaked.
I hugged, kissed and thanked Shadow for being such a good girl. Once packed up, I walked home filled with anticipation. I suppose perseverance and staying true to one’s vision eventually pays off.