Nancy Bowers is a member who has appeared here on a couple of previous occasions (remember the cardinal in the snow and the young girl on the beach?) and is back with another great shot. These two young ladies had just left a nearby wedding, probably after a couple glasses of the bubbly, to frolic in the late afternoon sun at a beach near Charleston. Unknown to them, Nancy was nearby with her camera ready to record a small moment in history. It’s always a pleasure to come away with a scene that is totally spontaneous and could probably never be duplicated by a professional photographer with lovely models being told what to do. The late afternoon sun was ideal and both women faced the light perfectly. Even the ocean in the background brought a wave to the scene at the high point of their jump. The arms of both girls are stretched out in an ideal position and direction. And Nancy timed the shutter when their leap was at its peak.

Nancy Bowers - Frolicking at the Beach

The camera was a Nikon D80 with a 70-300mm lens. The aperture was f/5.6 and the shutter speed a fast 1/500 sec to ensure there would be no motion blur. The lens was zoomed to 220mm and the ISO was a low 200 to minimize noise. Nancy selected all the best settings for the scene. Click the image for a higher resolution version.