Photo Club Shoot with Pam Cohen ~ Ocean Course Tuesday, Sept 29, 2020
Pam hosted another Beach shoot on Oct 23rd. The video on that post includes images from today. See it here: Oct. 23rd Shoot w/Video
The shoot had been planned and many club members were looking forward to what potential opportunities would come about. I chose this location since I photograph there many times a week. The uncertainty of what can be seen is intriguing and the subject matter, rarely dull. It can be pure/spectacular nature at its best.
The shoot was scheduled for 5 p.m. with hopes of staying until sundown. However, the weather had other plans. On the radar, an impending front was beckoning, I had to decide if we should attempt to go out or not. I chose in favor, the reason two-fold, it was uncertain as to when the front would move through and how intense it would be, you never know at the beach, especially at that end of the island. One thing I do know is, when there is a storm approaching, you can almost be assured, there will be usual lighting conditions, clouds, wind, and the birds can have an instinct to react.
Some club members decided to bale out but missed a terrific opportunity. I arrived early, immediately accessing the light. I could see one end of the beach had clouds and blue sky, the other end had a dull sky, conducive for properly exposed high key landscape images. There were many bird species, black skimmers, a couple of variety of terns, (the majority, Royal), and various gulls. Interspersed with a few large waders here and there. I checked a tide app and knew it was nearly high tide, the water was still moving forward. Just perfect, since I knew resting shorebirds near the water’s edge would be forced to be displaced as the tide surged forward. All the perfect conditions in my opinion.
As club members arrived, I explained the possible photo opportunities for those who wanted to make landscape images, and for those who wanted bird images. There were areas on the sand that were etched out, creating curved visual leading lines that were perfect for a successful composition. The dunes looked particularly beautiful, they could be a visual anchor compositionally.
For myself and other participants, the excitement grew as we photographed many “bird blastoffs”. Those of us who remained on the grassy area above the beach set the fast shutter speed and were able to create images of birds filling the sky flying across the beach. I had everyone be prepared since I knew the tide would have HUNDREDS of birds displaced and be our photographic subjects mid-air. What I didn’t anticipate was the bald eagle which seemed to come out of nowhere flying right in front and parallel to us. This is a rarity, and all I could do was scream, “bald eagle, it’s a bald eagle shoot it … shoot it now”. Needless to say, I missed the shot!
Not long after, the rain decided to ruin our shoot – no lightening or danger – and we all made it to the parking lot before ourselves, and our equipment was soaked! I was disappointed the shoot couldn’t last longer, I certainly wanted to offer more instruction and see what images participants made. We missed dinner at 5 and got a bit wet, yet as photographers, you must not be accustomed to routine and comfortable conditions. Ultimately, never underestimate the potential of a good shoot during questionable weather conditions!
Pamela Cohen
