In the haze lit sick orange by plant towers in the distance, I was just sitting there, hearing the sounds of invisible black waves coming in from the wide, wide gulf. I would then see this pale blue eruption of light burst into existence as the wave crested and churned the algae into a dance that made them visible.
Seeing it was probably one of the more breathtaking sights I've ever witnessed.

I know I'm a photo guy, but cameras truly and absolutely do not do some things justice. If it wouldn't have been foggy, maybe I could have captured a closer comparison to what I saw, but that's not the point. I often see people looking at the world through their cameras, phones or whatever. That's not the way you do it!

You have to see the world, then you document it.
I want to just yank it out of their hands and tell them;
"Just look! Soak it all in, because your camera phone is not doing justice to the amazing thing you are seeing. Look at the world with your eyes, capture it with your memory. Some things are too rare and fleeting for cameras to truly represent, only the unfiltered eye can appreciate the depth and width of the world we have that can be so pure and surprising. Your pictures should remind you of what you actually saw, not just be a product of what you pointed a camera at and pushed a button. Make a true and beautiful mental image of these scenes; your kids, a game, the beach, your true life. Because if you use a tiny lens to truly see and remember your life, when drop that phone in the toilet you are really going to be pissed."

02/10/2012

Author's Note: This is taken from a recent photo blog post I did about shooting the algae. Didn't mean for it to get all philosophical, but it did. I made sure to bring it back around at the end though.

Posted on 02/10/2012
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