The one that got away

… and the one that didn’t.

Usually it’s the camera that catches more moments than I do, because I have it set to 1/800 of a second and my eyes doesn’t have that focus speed. Like in the photo above. I’ve got so many good photos of that ride on the beautiful wave. But sometimes, strangely enough, I see and experience more than the camera. Because, when I’m taking photos I’m so focused and 100% in the moment, I watch everything that goes on like a hawk. I’m constantly scanning the sea and the surfers to see where my next photo will happen.

But with the photo above, it’s the complete opposite. When looking through the viewfinder of my camera I could see the surfer walking on the board and then jumping so he was standing in the other direction. I was sure I had the shot since the shutter speed was so high. And yes, I always look through the viewfinder and not on the live screen in the back of the camera. But to my surprise, when I got back home, I didn’t have a photo of the jump itself, only a before and after. Oh well, I got some other good ones.

I love when I see something that can be a story when I’m out taking pictures. Like the girl in the photo above. I was having breakfast and watching what was happening out at sea the whole time with my camera on standby next to me. So when I saw the surf lesson going on I started to take photos. And even if I was photographing the other surfers I kept coming back to the girl and her progress on the surf board. And here my camera caught more than what my eyes could see, it caught the expression on her face too. And her emotions, just the thing that I wanted to capture when I started photographing a long time ago.

Sometimes I care more about how the water looks in my photos than the actual surfing. Not to diminish the capabilities of the surfers, it’s just that I love water. In the photo above the shutter speed of the camera is obvious, you can see the drops of water flying around the board as it glides through the sea. And, oh yes, I’ve edited out some surfers from the photo too. I do that sometimes because they don’t add anything to the story. I apologize to all surfers I’ve edited out, it’s nothing personal.

Yes, it feels good to be back. I sort of know that spot, or actually it’s more like 3 or 4 spots depending on the conditions. And they were good this April morning, as were the surfers.