Splash!

Ever head out to photograph a place you have never been to before? You may have done a little research - looked at a map, maybe checked the tide tables, or looked at images others had made of the area. But really, did you feel prepared to start photographing when you arrived? Then what did you do?

Did you arrive early and meander around? Explore the area a bit? Evaluate the angle of the sun and approximate where the light will be best as it sets? Did you meander and take detail images of rocks and foliage while waiting for the light to be right?

On a recent trip exploring Washington State Parks, I stopped by Larrabee State Park near Bellingham. I had been wanting to visit Larrabee for some time after seeing a couple of images taken at the park. Crashing waves, quiet trails - that sort of thing. A little research also showed a vein of sandstone running through the park and the beach would have some fun shaped rock formations to play with.

True to my plans, I arrived early and meandered around a bit. Checked the arc of the sun. Looked for a few spots that might be possibilities for sunset. Composed a few intimate landscape images. Then became fascinated with the incoming waves sweeping over the rounded sandstone rocks jutting out into the bay. I was having fun with the waves as they swept over the rocks when I realized the wind and tide driven waves were crashing into the boulder off to my side. It looked fun, so I quickly repositioned my camera and started to capture the action.

Not long after the crashing waves died down on that boulder but were highly active on the next one. I recomposed and started snapping away as the light became more robust edging toward evening.

Then I saw it. The waves picked up again on the other boulder. One wave would crash on one boulder then right after another would crash onto the other boulder. My mind began processing - how cool would it be if waves crashed on both boulders at the same time and curled into each other?

Very cool!

So, although it is a good thing to plan ahead you don't always need a plan to go photo-ing. You just need to be open to what's presented for you.