Painting With Shutter Speeds

One of the challenges of photography is capturing light in that special way. Over the course of the last year, I have learned that creating a unique image can be a life long journey.

Natural Bridges, although only a few miles from my house, remains a challenge for me. There are only a couple windows of great light each year, typically mid fall and late winter. These windows are even smaller due to tide, well, and cloud cover.

Of course, I have the luxury of visiting it fairly frequently, but there are no guarantees. Last week, I took this photo. The tide was too high, and the sunset colors never really popped. I did notice that the swells were fairly decent sized and coming in at predictable intervals. I kept my shutter speed relatively quick (1/2 second for this shot) which froze the incoming waves. I really like these quicker shutter speeds; they seem to create wonderful brush strokes of texture and light. Painting with shutter speeds, so to speak.

Although not the epic shot I was looking for, I think it still stands as a place marker for that lifelong journey.