THE BACK STORY:

This is one of my favorite serendipitous stories I like to tell of my travels. I left home early one morning to make a 6-hour drive up to Ocean City, Maryland for a shoot for Johns Hopkins, and passed this spot on the drive up. I don't usually carry my large format gear with me, but will take it along if I've got a long haul ahead of me.

Anyway...this particular day happened to be outrageously windy, a condition in which hoisting a bulky camera atop a tripod will guarantee blurry photos from the camera shuddering in the wind.

The shoot for Johns Hopkins went incredibly smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that we shot for about 45 minutes, and I was on my way toward home again. I had intended on sleeping in the car (or ground) near the place I had seen these pound nets on the drive up, but made good time on the way back, and, when I got there, somehow the 30+ mph winds had stopped...completely.

I jumped out of the car, built the camera, and dashed to the shore. The scene before me couldn't have been more ideal. The summer heat had created a beautiful hazy backdrop behind the nets, and the water was reflecting the evening's twilight.

In just under an hour (about as long as my commissioned shoot that day), I made seven exposures, recording these delicate nets on a sheet of silver film. The pairing couldn't have been better...

If you're interested in seeing these pieces in person (they're breathtaking in person), you can view (and purchase) them in 20x24 inch silver gelatin prints at my gallery in Beaufort, NC, or at Rebekah Jacob Gallery in Charleston. I can also ship pieces, and guarantee satisfaction upon delivery.