Gloucester Massachusetts-3

Central task: photograph the sunset; secondary task: show the intersection between land and water; third task: use light effectively.

Sunset—find the right position, the right camera settings, the right moment

To show the sunset effectively
Not to capture it but
To express it
I roamed the long Niles beach and
Eventually settled on a spot
Where water drains slowly
Into the ocean.

This water meanders
Back to the ocean
Where life began—Ernesto Cardenal, the Nicaraguan poet,
political activist, and former Catholic priest wrote, “Our lives are rivers
Running to empty, into
The sea, which
Is death.”

This water leaves traces
Which reflects light from
The beclouded setting sun.

But what is the correct moment
To open the shutter
And the correct setting?

The correct setting?
Aperture priority
ISO 125
Focal length 27 millimeters
F/11 at 1/1200th of a second
(The sun, even tho occluded and nearly at the horizon,
Is still bright.)

And the correct moment?
She, name unknown, home unknown,
Why here unknown, why
Here at this particular moment
A mystery,
Steps in front of my camera
To indelibly become
A silent witness, as