Canon EOS 60D ,Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
1/1600s f/8.0 at 200.0mm iso400

Soccer in a Lifeguard Boat

During our Easter walk at La Jolla Cove today I saw this lifeguard playing soccer in his boat, repeatedly bouncing the ball of his knee.

I want to use this photo to talk about two concepts: telling a story, and catching the right moment.

Powerful photos usually tell a story, perhaps with the exception of abstract pictures. Even though this was just a millisecond snapshot in time, it nonetheless tells the story of what happened for at least a few seconds. The sea was calm, the lifeguard was bored, and he was passing the time by bouncing a soccer ball. There are even secondary story lines, the boat captain looking over at me snapping pictures, and a woman on a stand-up paddle board going the other way, lining up with the lifeguard boat at this moment in time.

So, while I give myself high mark for telling the story, I didn’t quite catch the moment I wanted to catch. I had intended to get a frame with the ball coming just off the lifeguard’s knee. However, even with a 6 frame-per-second burst I didn’t get it. I could have just kept snapping more frames, but once the paddle boarder has passed, which happened within just a few seconds, the picture became less interesting. So, while I didn’t get quite the perfect moment, it was still good enough to tell the story.