This image is deceiving. The glow of the setting
sun creates a warmth in this image. In reality, it was mid-March, freezing
cold and windy. I had been on the beach for a few hours, and was so cold, I
decided to head back to the car about 30 minutes before the sunset. When I
reached the car, the sun popped out unexpectedly. I grabbed my 300mm and
quickly composed this shot from the sidewalk. I shot off several frames,
and was thrilled to capture one with a seagull (a.k.a. searat to us locals)
in solitary flight. As I pondered how cold and isolated it must have felt,
I found it a fitting reflection of my own predicament as the only person
crazy enough to be down on the beach that day.
Technical Details: 1/800 sec at f/4 - 300mm lens - cloudy
white balance +3 - RAW ISO 400
Normally, I don't use a high shutter speed with a lens mounted to a tripod,
as my 300mm was for this day's shoot. However, the wind gusts were high
enough to cause a great deal of vibration in the viewfinder, and the tripod
head I was using simply wasn't sturdy enough for these conditions. I didn't
want to miss out on this shot, so I opted for a high shutter speed and ISO
value, hoping that I would get a sharp image. From my position, depth of
field wasn't crucial (fortunately). I had been out in the freezing
temperatures for a couple of hours by the time I made this image. My hands
were shaking from the cold, not that I could feel them. While my tripod let
me down this day, my remote release didn't, so at least my shaking wasn't
adding to the lens vibration. That night, back in my warm house, I ordered
a new tripod head. It's nearly twice the size of the old one, but the
tripod doesn't suffer from the shakes anymore.
