The Silver Sea

Sometimes it all just comes together, and in the middle of a long string of so-so pictures, one flashes out as having just what you were after. This is the far end of Hindmarsh Island, Lake Alexandrina, South Australia, the area known as the Murray Mouth, where Australia’s greatest river meets the Southern Ocean, on September 20^th, 2018. The right degree of telephoto, a nice, level horizon line, the right quality of light through and against the overcast... The afternoon light made the whole arc of the lagoon silver, and just to look at the picture brings back the tug of the sea wind, the endless rush and race of the waves and the cries of gulls. There are dozens of other pictures from that moment but none quite grabbed the intensity in such an aesthetic package. There was no clever photographic trickery, other that seeing the conditions and zooming into the area where the light was working its magic on the waters and the wet sand of a falling tide. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.