The Story Behind…..Findhorn – X Marks The Spot

At first look, the story behind this image may seem obvious to you. An “X” marking something in the sea like an end of a rainbow. Maybe marking some buried treasure or a WWII tank (yes, there is one out there somewhere beneath the waves classed as a War Memorial) from a failed landing. An “X” in an ethereal setting to portray a moody seascape in some foreboding way as if a storm was brewing, or in an otherworldly time possibly. Who knows? That’s why Ansel Adams quoted: “There’s always two people in every photograph: the Photographer and the Viewer”.

Maybe. I don’t know. This is the beauty of a picture and how it is interpreted by whoever cares to view it. I can only give you my view, as the Photographer, and the craft behind the image.

The “X”, for me, is the spot where I pressed the shutter. Pure and not so simple.

This is the spot where I have gone to so many times over the course of my life and have continued to do so for many reasons. I grew up here. Spent so many hours playing and meeting up with friends here. I had my first kiss here (well, near here – another story for another image). I have grieved here. Fallen in love here. Lost and found myself here. So many memories and experiences………it is my spot.

I still go back to this spot on the beach at Findhorn when I need to find some clarity in my life. If it is important, I sit here. It helps most of the time and others….well, it gives me a sort of quietness to help reset and declutter. Listening to the sounds of the waves and looking out over the sea to the northern lands is sort of a comforting, familiar feeling that leads me back to “home”. It’s my “0,0,0,0” in a “Sheldonian” way – hence, “my Spot”.

The long exposure in the frame of the image, for me, represents the timeless feeling that I get from sitting there for hours sometimes. Watching the weather blow through and the waves relentlessly rattling the pebbles along the beach against the Groyne in its never-ending battle of long shore drift. A soundtrack to so many memories.

So much so that it is one of the few images that I have hung on my wall. A memento representing so many memories, conversations, laughter, tears, and experiences. How can you pack so much within its frame?

“X” marks the spot.

Exif:

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mk2 Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm USM F-stop: f/14

Shutter Speed: 12 seconds ISO: 100 Filters: Lee 10-Stop, Circular Polariser

Where I Stood (Click on the icon below you prefer to use)