Birds were the goal, Z600f4TC/Z9 perched on the tripod faithfully standing on the boardwalk. The sun was just kissing the tops of the trees on the island on the other side. The photograph expresses what I was feelin at that moment, it’s a long way to go without knowing if it’s worth the walk. It was, but I didn’t know that at the time. You don’t know, and in fact, I wanted you to wonder where the boardwalk ends. Light, graphics, and symmetry, all being used so you ask the question, what’s at the other end?

The Z600f4TC over the shoulder, I slowly, slowly crossed the boardwalk at Stono. The tides were slowly rising, forcing birds like the Clapper Rail out of their normal cover. The sun is coming up, the moon racing for the horizon. A gorgeous morning, but at this moment, no birds. I put down the rig and looked around. That’s when I noticed my shadow, a speck on the landscape. I took the Z26f2.8 out of the pocket, tucked into the rig to make it look like I was shooting, and made the click. Many of my faovrite landscape photos were made when I was out for critter but this didn’t show up. When I go out shooting, I just don’t want to be left up in the air.

It doesn’t matter if it’s West Mitten or East Mitten in Monument Valley, every sunrise I tended to put them dead center in the frame! I sure didn’t realize it while I was there, and in fact, it was a week after finishing all the images from the week that the pattern registered with me. I still love the images, that’s not the issue. It just seemed odd to me, so I had to do a dive to see if I could figure out why I was drawn to doing that. The first common thread is that all the images were shot with the Z70-200f2.8II. Next, they were all taken before sunrise. Lastly, they were all taken from the balcony of our room. I would just seem that’s how the heart thought the elements should be arranged. I was stuck in the middle.

You’re on location you’ve spent lots of time and money to arrive at. You simply walk out the door of your home. You’re there because of the promise of the possibilities life might bring to your viewfinder. The only way you find out the promise of the day is to meet it at least halfway. You gotta show up! Not talking just physically, but technically and emotionally, ready to take in what you see and feel and make that into a single click. We fail at that at times, that’s part of the process and how we learn. There are times when we succeed, and those are the ones we treasure and push us for more. That’s the life of a photographer. We’re always greeting the promise of the new day.