luck

Eddie and I walked along the beach our last full day on Captiva Island yesterday, even though the wind was howling, the sand was blowing, and it was downright cold.

The sea was green and churning against the darkening sky.

My camera battery ran out. End of the trip, forgot to bring a charger; I was resigned to quit shooting.

But it was so beautiful out.

I removed the battery, shook it around a bit, huffed some warm breath on it and said a few magic words. Popped it back in the camera, and lo and behold, it decided to sputter to life for a few more seconds.


That’s when I was given this gift of a photo.

Here are some elements that excite me about a photograph (made by me or anybody else):

1. movement
2. enigma (“Don’t SHOW me what was going on, make me WONDER what was going on.” ~ Keith Carter)
3. use of the edges of the frame
4. layering
5. atmosphere
6. a square that is not a square (“Break the square, Gloria!” ~ Mary Ellen Mark)
7. compositional shapes that mirror one another

The photo goddesses were in my corner yesterday. woo-hoo!