MAN WITH A CAMERA

Grand Haven, Michigan; the beach is in winter mode now with rows of snow fence set up to keep sand on the beach instead of migrating to the street below the bluff. The light house may have some new paint but wear and tear on the pier itself can’t be covered so easy. Freeze and thaw eat away, little pieces, one at a time but the cracks and cavities are too big to miss. After so many years it’s easy to take the place for granted. The last time I was here there was a great festival going on. The beach was crawling with people of all ages. Sunset found the pier with tourists, shoulder to shoulder, waiting, watching the sun sink somewhere beyond the horizon, into Wisconsin. I'm by myself now, walking up and down the beach, out to the light house and back, then repeat the process again and again. Walking the beach should be worth college credit; you learn something important, every time. As much as it stays the same over years it changes minute to minute. Subtle changes in light, different angles, creatures in and out of the picture; I’m not sharp enough to catch them all but the lens doesn’t miss anything. 

There is an edge on the wind, just enough to push small rollers up onto the sand. Where the pier was full of people last time, this morning only three guys and a dozen fishing poles. The perch are there but nobody’s having any luck today. They are quick to remind anyone who will listen that a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work. Down the beach, gulls have congregated at water’s edge. Before I can check them out a jogger and her dog come up on them too fast and they explode into a flurry. Some settled back in the shallows while others circled for a few minutes and came back to the wet sand. As I got closer, hoping for another flurry and a chance to shoot them on the wing, they noticed me alright but chose to walk away rather than fly. In the sand, with a heavy camera around my neck they can walk as fast as I can so I headed back up to the rows of snow fence. There was a healthy dune behind the first row with wind ripples on top. The wind has packed the sand and that makes for easy walking. So I walked there, looking for lines and angles, color and contrast. Photographs don’t just happen, you have to look for them. Even then you have to figure out where you need to be when you trip the shutter. 

I have other things to do today but maybe I’ll still be in town when the sun gets low. If I can get a low angle sun in the same frame with the light house and be lucky enough to catch a few gulls flying through, I wouldn’t want to be somewhere else, doing something mundane. Fall colors are past their peak and I need to go up north tomorrow if I want fall photos. Some of you have been with me to the high meadow on M22, just up the road from Glen Arbor. That’s where I’ll be tomorrow when the sun comes up. If you haven’t been there, you need to go.