“Hark, now hear the sailors cry, 
Smell the sea, and feel the sky,
Let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic.”
– Van Morrison

During the days I spend sitting on the shores in Cozumel this past January, one thing that was every present, except one stormy day, was the non-stop traffic of boats going by, just offshore. It was a mix of dive boats, fishing boats, and pleasure craft, but it was ceaseless.

From the break of dawn till early evening, the boats floated by, some lazily and others seemingly in a race to get the best spot first. And all the while, their wake rolled gently to the beach, long after their passing.

There was a certain pleasure in the act of simply resting on the beach and watching this activity, which was the only real measure of time, simply through its regularity.

I tried to capture that lazy feeling through a timed horizontal pan, rendering the photo a deliberately blurry and abstract image, as if waking from a dream. The red boat, just passing, is visible, but not immediately, as your eyes scan the scene presented.

It’s very calming for me now, reflecting back on these lazy, sun-baked days, with not a care in the world where, like the Van Morrison song, my soul and spirit did fly, into the mystic.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 70 mm
1/4 sec, f/32.0, ISO 100

For more images like this, please visit my website (images are available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com