The long telephoto lenses have always landed me in a visual wonderland that’s definitely challenging, but at the same time, I find it to be the most entertaining and rewarding space. I really never know what I’m going to end up with.
I think the lure of unknown is what I run 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 on both sides, a Foster City path that’s behind our house and on Redwood Shores path that’s much longer.
A section of the path on the Redwood Shores side is right next to the water and only a feet or so higher than the water level. In this part of the Slough, it flows towards East into San Francisco Bay and It’s in direct path and direction of wind tunnel coming from the West, Pacific Ocean.
Later in the evening when the sun is still barely out and the ever-present chilling summer wind is at its best, it’s the most mesmerizing time to be in that section; you’re filled with anticipation of what you may find if you look long enough.
Over time, I had 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 few time just to kill time and to see even if I have a chance to come up with something. But I realized that jumping around here and there trying to anticipate how the waves will unfold and manually focus due to low light conditions, was entertaining but that strategy didn’t produce anything worthwhile.
After a few tries, I changed my strategy and went back when it was high tied to get wider and higher waves. I had to resist falling into the same trap of chasing the waves sometimes almost in the dark.
Therefore, I chose a pair of promising waves as they’re starting to form, focused on the valley between the pair where millions of reflections were dancing around, and clicked away when a flash shape would catch my eyes. I stayed focused on the valley until they reached the end of their 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 was leaning on my leg, was shivering from the cold wind.
It was one of my last tries, the wind had died down a bit and the waves were not as fast-moving and chaotic. I tried to stay focused in space between the pair that I was following in hopes 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, packed up, and walked home filled with anticipation if I had captured what I had all along envisioned might be there. I suppose perseverance and staying true to ones vision eventually pays off.
