Surfer ripping it up just before sunset on Carmel Beach. Sony A7III, Sony E 55-210mm, f/13, 1/6,000, ISO 1,000.
Capturing great photos requires great patience and is something that really needs to be learned as a photographer. You will almost never capture anything of great interest or beauty if you rush the process. Give nature time to reveal itself and let the scene play out in front of you and be ready.
That’s been hard for me to learn. I have great patience once I’m set up, but I have zero patience in getting to my location. I feel like every moment I’m not ready to shoot is a moment that is lost. So let’s talk about February 2, 2021. I had just finished a shoot with photographer Marc Silber who lives very near Carmel Beach, in, you guessed it, Carmel, CA. As the sun was setting I thought I would hustle down there and see if I could capture the low light behind the surfers.
If you know Carmel Beach, you know it’s a long, sandy beach that’s very wide in some places and there’s a bit of a curve to it on the southern end.
Nikon D5500, Sigma 18-300mm, f/8, 1/250, ISO 200.
From its northern boundary underneath Pebble Beach golf course to the rocky southern border is just over a mile. I parked right about 4:00p so there was about 90 minutes left of sunlight. Where I parked, however, turned into a problem.
The road that runs along Carmel Beach is a one-way road so if you want to drive north you have to go a block inland first. When I parked I was much closer to the southern end of the beach where you need to use a staircase to get down on the sand. I grabbed all my gear and started walking north along the path, looking for one of these staircases. The first one I reached was closed for some reason as was the next staircase and the next one after that. Frustrated that I’m missing shots I stopped and looked to see how far away I was from the surfers and realized that I should just walk back to the car and drive to the north end and try again.
This is where the need to be patient kicks in. I have already wasted 10 minutes parking and walking to where I was. Now I have to walk back to the car and drive a mile further, re-park, and then walk down to the beach. It must also be stated that parking at Carmel Beach is no walk in the park. Somehow there’s always a Tesla or a Prius that just beats you. This was going to cost me valuable light time.
I stopped to take this photograph first though…
Sony A7III, FE 24mm, f/8, 1/250, ISO 100.
Twelve excruciating minutes later…
I’m finally on the beach. In my haste I still managed to park quite far from where the surfers were (it’s a long beach!). I start walking south and less than a minute later I see what I came to shoot. Because of the curve of the beach, from my perspective, the surfers were passing in front of this magnificent house on the cliff edge (same house as in the above image) on the far end. Even better, the never disappointing Point Lobos was even deeper in the background! Wow, what a scene. This was really coming together.
I stuck on my my telephoto lens and zoomed all the way in, really adding depth to the shot. Even if there were no surfers, this photo would be good enough to frame. Look at the fog pouring over the trees in Point Lobos and the mist coming off the Pacific and getting hit by that low light. Perfection.
Now for the cherry on the cake. Being the very patient person that I am, I was posted up there for almost 20 minutes before I took this photograph. I also took 50 shots trying to find the right moment.
Now, before the big moment happened I was looking the other way briefly just to see what the waves and fog were doing on the other end of the beach then I looked back and noticed a surfer going through my frame. I quickly put my finger on the shutter and took one shot. Bang. Perfect timing. What a capture. After looking at it in my LCD screen I must have looked like a ref signaling a touch down. “It’s good!”.
I wanted to run down there to find this surfer, but, all wetsuits are black and there was no way. I actually came very close to missing this photograph but because I was prepared by having the shot set up and ready to go I succeeded. This is now one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken.
Some photographers like to bring a shot list with them but unless someone is asking for specific photos I just go out looking. That’s what I call it, “looking for photographs”. I’m looking for the right framing of a moment. They’re all out there and the universe will reveal them to you if you’re patient and prepared.
These are some things I want you to take away from this blog and remember as a photographer:
1) Just because you haven’t reached your location yet, does not mean you’re missing the moment.
2) Always be prepared to capture the shot. Have your settings ready as quickly as you can once you arrive. Even set them before you go if you know what you’re after.
3) Frame your shot and get the photograph you envisioned. If you have time, hang out for a while. Using the same framing, maybe you can catch something in the foreground you did not expect. For example, maybe you caught a really nice photo of Big Ben in London. If your framing allows, wait a while to see if you can capture an iconic double decker bus passing in front of it. It’ll add depth and color if nothing else. Be patient and let nature unfold in front of you.
4) Be open to adjust on the fly. I went down there expecting to shoot completely different images of surfers and ended up shooting one of my Top 5 images of all time.
It will happen for you too!
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