An award for "Stepping out into sea spray (Ballerina)"

The award announcement from IPA

My photograph "Stepping out into sea spray (Ballerina)" has been awarded Honorable Mention from International Photography Awards 2020 competition. There were 13,000 entries from 120 countries in this competition. Earlier this year, this photo was also chosen to be showcased in Culture Magazine 2021, published by the Florida Keys Council of the Arts. 

Here is the story behind the photograph that I wrote about 9 months ago:
I usually let an image gestate for a while before I decide to print it. However, I knew as soon as I opened the file on my computer that this one was special, and I rushed an order for a 36”x24” print that arrived at the gallery this morning. I think that it is stunning and I’d love you to see the print in person. Here is the story behind the photograph.

A couple weeks ago I was at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West on a windy morning. I had spent about half an hour there without getting any outstanding photos, and so I decided to leave. When I was about halfway to my bike, something made me turn around to take a last look at the beach. Two snowy egrets were flying to a breakwater near shore, and I decided to go back to see if I could get a few more photos.

The wind was pushing up some large waves that erupted into sea spray when they hit the breakwater that the birds had landed on. I was able to get within about 30 feet of them and started to take a few photos. After a few minutes, I saw a very large wave approaching. One of the birds saw it too and crouched in preparation to jump and fly away. I had prepared the settings on my camera and focused in on the bird.

It was a magic moment when everything came together as the wave hit the rocks, the bird jumped out into the sea spray, and I snapped a few images.

I did not have to do much to the raw image file beyond cropping it a little and enhancing the details and vibrance. I entitled it Stepping out into the sea sprayinitially, but several people mentioned that it looked like a ballerina, and so I added that into the title. To me, this photo exudes a sense of grace and beauty that existed in that moment.

Mounted on aluminum, the 36”x24” print in the gallery is $995. I can order any size that you like up to about 60 inches on the longest edge. I hope that you can drop by the gallery to see it!