There is something you should know about me. I love the ocean. I rarely get to see it. I would love to live near the water so I could take full advantage of the inspiration and comfort it gives me. I can’t explain it. I just love it. When I was a kid we used to stay at my uncle’s house in West Dennis for about a week each summer. Some of my fondest memories of those trips was going for walks on the beach after dinner when it started getting dark. I absolutely love the beach at the later hours when mostly everyone has left and it starts getting windy and chilly out. It’s just so peaceful and pretty at twilight.

Last month I took a trip to the Cape for a long weekend with Brandon and one thing I absolutely had to do was go to the beach – any beach – at night, this time with my camera. As Brandon had just bought a new (video) camera that he wanted to play with, he brought his gear along as well. After we had dinner and drinks that night I searched for the nearest beach in the GPS and went to the first one I found. It ended up being a really nice, quiet beach and there were hardly any people there. Don’t ask me where we were.  What happened next surprised me more than anything…I got inspired!  WHAT? This never happens to me anymore! I always have some voice in the back of my head telling me, “shoot this, it might make you some money” and “oh, don’t bother with that, you won’t make anything off that shot”. I somehow mustered up the courage to tell that voice to shut the hell up and leave me alone for just a little while.

We parted ways almost the second we got on the beach and found our own places and things to shoot. I went a little nuts taking long exposures of the water. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I lost track of time just walking around shooting. I honestly can’t remember the last time I got lost in it like that. The beach closed at 9 and we just made it out in time. I walked away feeling pretty decent at the feeling I had of being inspired. I was excited again to look at my shots and I was excited to get home, edit, and share them. If I got nothing else from that short trip, I walked away knowing I can still be inspired and it’s possible for me to just let go. And that in and of itself is inspiring!