“Creating this image was as much about luck and being in the right place at the right time as it was the actual technical part of capturing the image.
My girlfriend and I started walking the beaches in early June checking the nesting dates on the rst turtle nest of the season. We knew things would start to pick up towards the end of July…and we were right! As usual we made our 5:30 am wake up call so we could get to the beach before sunrise.
This day the stars aligned and it was as if everything was scripted in our favor. We arrived at 6:30 am…quickly walked down the beach 100 yards or so, and saw this little guy from 50 yards away. I could see his/her little flippers flapping in the dim light. I ran down and ripped open my camera bag. There was just this one hatchling and I feared it would jump in and swim away before I got my gear ready!
I slapped on my 50mm lens and quickly got into position – laying on my side in the sand right at the water’s edge. The sun was starting to rise and the clouds were looking perfect for a colorful sunrise! The turtle was a little late making it to the water and was pretty worn out from digging out of the sand and walking from the nest. The waves were small, around 1ft but was big enough to make it pretty hard for him to get out. So as the sun started to rise I started ring off shots. The gold and oranges started to break through as the baby loggerhead made its push for the open ocean.
It’s amazing to watch these little guys — the determination and never give up spirt and the automatic need to go towards the sun and out to open ocean. As I continued to lock focus and grab frame after frame, it was hard not to hope and pray that this little guy would make it! The amazing life cycle of the loggerhead can take them a quarter of the way around the planet and many of the mothers nd their way back to the same beach they hatched from. I had a good 10 minutes of shooting before the little guy made its way out into the surf. Truly a small miracle, and just one of the amazing gifts you can and on our beaches if you venture out! The ocean truly is a gift. Its up to us to protect it.”
“My hope is that through my photography and in showcasing the beauty of the oceans and natural landscapes, I can inspire an interest in protecting these natural wonders!”
