Timing is everything. The difference between snapping a boring everyday image or capturing a keeper that is worth hanging on your wall could be a matter of moments. In the case of “Body & Soul” it was one hour and that made the shot all worth it.
It was near the end of August when my family and I took a trip to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. My goal for the week was to shoot some sunsets over the Bay.
We were at the very southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula surrounded by water. If we looked east we could see the Atlantic Ocean, head west and we’d run into the Chesapeake Bay.
Whenever I go to a new location I try to scout the area during the day. I’ll look around for pleasing textures and patterns; compositions that will make a good image. The difficulty with scouting during the day is that the light typically looks terrible. So you end up guessing where and what the light will be like during the “golden hour.”
On one of my midday scouting trips I found this lone tree sitting on a thin strip of land: on one side of the tree was a small pond and on the other side was the mighty Chesapeake Bay. Sunset over the Bay, tree reflected in pond; I liked what I saw. This had some real potential.
So, I returned an hour before sunset. I changed locations several times hoping to line up the tree’s reflection just right. And then I waited, and waited. The sky had very few clouds, so the typical gorgeous Chesapeake Bay sunset was less than spectacular. I thought about packing it up and heading home; I was hungry and the mosquitoes were even hungrier. At times like this I always have this internal dialogue: I can go home and try again tomorrow or I can stick it out and see what happens. If I wait a little bit longer, maybe, just maybe the sky will surprise me…and it did.
The flatness of the sky, as the colors faded from warm to cool, really worked to simplify the image. So, my patience paid off. I went to bed that night scratching my bug bites knowing I made the right call.