Photo Of The Day: April 30, 2008

I got a letter the other day from a student studying photography. I get these from time to time, and try to offer advice and answer questions they ask of me. This one included a question of how I plan for my photos. I explained that I almost never plan out a shoot -- instead I see something beautiful and just grab it. This is the example I gave to the writer: I was up at 4:00 a.m. to get a sunrise in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. On the way there I crossed a bridge in Dennis, MA and found a perfect shot -- an inlet that was completely calm in the pre-dawn. So I screeched the car to a halt, backed up, and put my camera on the bridge railing for the long exposure required. Here's what resulted -- a wonderful, unplanned photo that was 30 miles away from the place I was originally headed. For more pictures of Dennis, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com. And see this shot as a two page spread in my new book of Cape Cod photos.