Middle of the day, August, on the beach, needing shots, light is terrible. That just about wraps up my summer photography. But I can’t just walk away, I have got to get some images for the book. So what do you do? I have two choices the way I see it: either be grumpy and leave and curse the photo gods for their cruelty or wander around and praise those same gods and hope they will pass something great your way. Just for the record, there is nothing wrong with being grumpy.
But every so often something happens and I get lucky. Of course it helps to pay attention to everything that is happening around you and be always ready to shoot but luck plays the biggest part.
I was on the beach in Maine, mid-day, light awful in desperate need of summer beach shots. looking around I saw a little boy running up and down a sandy path to the beach playing a game with his dad. I walked over, asked his dad if I could take his son’s picture and blasted away. I got one chance, on run before the boy stopped. I kneeled down to his eye level, put the autofocus point on the boys chest and blasted away at 8 frames a second. 40 images later the shoot was over and I went back to the car happy to have gotten a shot.
These are my favorite two images. I love his joyful expression and his little running body. But I really love that I don’t have to go back at mid-day and try for more shots.
Running beach boy 1
Running beach boy 2