Seashells

My wife and I, along with our dog, recently took a week-long trip to St. George Island, a barrier island located just south and east of Apalachicola, Florida.  At this time of year, the beach is virtually empty making the island a very quiet and tranquil retreat.

The dog very quickly became accustomed to his four one-hour walks each day.  And, he developed a very specific schedule:  just after breakfast, right after lunch, approximately mid-afternoon, and late evening just before sunset.  If there was any chance that we might forget, he was sure to remind of us.

In past years, I would often not take my camera on these little jaunts because I didn’t want to lug around all of my equipment.  Almost without exception, I would see something that piqued my interest, and I would end up regretting my decision to leave the camera behind.  But, this year, I took a different approach.  I attached a long neck strap, slung the camera with a 24-70mm lens over my shoulder, and off we went.  This set-up actually worked quite well.

On one of our first walks, I began noticing the seashells that had washed ashore.  But, finding the ideal composition took some time.  The shells were in clusters that were too widely spaced, they were broken, or both.  But, I kept searching until I found just what I was looking for:  this closely packed concentration of mostly intact seashells.

Selecting the best section of the shell bed, I kneeled down to ensure the shells completely filled the frame.  Complete edge-to-edge sharpness was imperative.  To achieve this, I ensured the camera’s sensor was parallel to the plane of the shells.  Then, I used a small aperture to increase the apparent depth of field given the focal length used and the short camera-to-subject distance. 

Because I was handholding the camera, I needed to use a relatively fast shutter speed.  I put the camera in manual mode and set my desired shutter speed and aperture.  Using the Auto ISO setting allowed the camera to select the proper ISO given the shutter speed, aperture, and lighting.

Settings: 70mm, 1/125 sec, f/22, 400 ISO