Twice over the weekend I was confronted with unexpected, ephemeral beauty. Both times involved water, one time at rest and the other in motion, and both times I was grateful beyond words to have a camera with me.
Saturday was a dismal afternoon in Maryland, with heavy rain and tornado warnings. I had to cancel my hoped-for epic bike ride over the mountain into downtown Frederick. But late in the day I got a phone call from a partially disabled friend whose car had broken down, who needed a ride to finish a few errands. So downtown I was destined to be after all.
After taking care of Bruce I stopped by Joanie’s coffee shop and was visiting with old friends when several more people burst in, babbling in excitement about the sunset. I grabbed my camera and headed outside. When I got a peek between the buildings, the horizon indeed looked to be on fire. I hustled on up the street to the bridge with a view down Carroll Creek to the west and was visually gobsmacked, as a Brit might say. At first I kicked myself for not having my tripod with me but the bridge railing proved to be my friend. I was able to get a bracketed series of solid shots, including the very sweet one-second exposure directly below.
On Sunday I was at the Potomac River, but not in my canoe. It was a cool day and I wanted to check out the sights and river access around Brunswick. I met up with an old friend and fellow photographer from Brunswick, and we took a ramble down the C&O canal. We eventually headed down a beaten path that followed a little stream to the river. I was happily photographing insects in the water and the reflection of grasses, when a larger reflection loomed in my viewfinder. It was my friend on the opposite side of the stream. I asked if she would mind finessing her placement just a little for composition and she kindly obliged, while I banged out as many frames as I could before she moved on with her own photography. The water ripples were changing and distorting her shape all kinds of ways and once again I was gobsmacked. Those few moments were pure magic.
Upon turning the images upside down later, I found they were even better than I had hoped. The photo at bottom is exactly as it was shot, only vertically flipped. The setting, the afternoon light and perfect juxtaposition of streambanks, grasses and reflections couldn’t have been much better. I hope you enjoy these two very different but equally unexpected visual treats.
