What A Shot!

I had promised myself a treat and an escape from the stress of going through a redundancy from my job after 14 years of loyal service. I knew the perfect way to get away from it all. "yes", I said, "hire myself a VW camper van and spend a week somewhere remote and by the sea".

The sea always seemed to have a calming effect for me, whether it reminded me of many childhood memories playing without a care on the beach, or whether it was a more spiritual and ethereal affair I’m not sure. The other healing and calming element for me, had always been walking the hills and mountains. Just to be high up and to see for miles had always evoked a feeling of leaving the busy and crowded world down below, for the realms of big skies, extensive views, and a comforting quietness and tranquillity.

Thinking to myself that I could integrate both of these idyllic domains for a week of stress relief, I knew just the place. Coming from a part of the UK that features much crop growing and agriculture, Suffolk is a relatively flat county, and I was yearning the soaring peaks and majestic mountains of the principality of Wales.

I drove from the East coast to the West coast of the UK and found the ideal location, comprising a large rocky mountain whose steep slopes came down just at the edge of the coast and the Atlantic Ocean, perfect!

To say this was an ideal location, was an understatement, it couldn’t have been better, allowing for restful walks along the coast and the beach in the mornings, breakfast in a congenial beach café, and hiking in the foothills of the mountain during the day.

On the last day of that week, I decided that maybe there wouldn’t be the full time for a leisurely walk in the foothills as I would need to pack my stuff and prepare for the journey back home later, so instead, I elected for a walk along the road which ran between the base of the mountain and the coast. As I walked the road, on one side was the steep granite cliff face of the mountain going straight up, and on the other side of the somewhat small and narrow road was a high hedge of trees and bushes shrouding the view of the coast and the sea.

I was aware of the sea on the other side of this high hedge as I could hear the sound of the waves washing and lapping against the seashore. I walked for best part of a mile, aware that the sea was there, but not seeing it. And then my photo opportunity came up! There was just one place where the hedge was missing between two trees, and I took my phone and snapped a quick shot of the sea with the sun reflecting on it. That was it, just one shot, and not really framed at all, just a quick shot that I would look at and review later.

Can you imagine my surprise, and delight, when I looked at it later and realised that I had the most perfectly framed picture with foliage in the foreground on each side, and the dramatic sky and clouds over the perfectly centred pool of sunlight on the surface of the sea. Wow, what a shot!