Story
I love this photograph. It’s one of my favorites—and it almost didn’t happen.
That evening, I only had a small window of time before I needed to be somewhere. I figured I’d head down to the Carquinez Strait, launch the drone, and see what I could get before sunset.
This was actually my second attempt photographing this buoy. The first time, the conditions just weren’t right—the water was choppy, the colors were flat, and although I captured a few interesting moments with the waves in the water rolling towards the camera, but nothing really stood out.
This time was different.
Flying out to the buoy is always a little nerve-wracking. It’s farther than it looks, and at that distance, the drone becomes hard to see. On top of that, to get the composition right, I needed to fly very low over the water—close enough to capture the reflections and movement of the current. Close enough that I felt the water could reach up and grab the drone into its depth.
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