Self portrait?

July 5th, 2010. Deltaville, VA. It was hot, hot, HOT out. Nearing 100 degrees and, Alas!, very little wind for our first day of sailing class. We came here for the week for a little vacation and also to take sailing lessons from Norton's Sailing School. We spent the morning in the classroom learning about all things Sailing 101, many of which we already knew, but many things we did not know either. I was thankful to be inside for any part of the day with the stifling heat, although at the same time I was disappointed because I wanted good weather for our vacation and a heat wave was not it. No pretty clouds over the ocean during a heat wave.

In the afternoon we took the boat out with our instructor for the first time. It was a very, VERY fancy boat! Sad to say, but it probably cost more than my house. But - that was one of the reasons for taking the sailing lessons: to have the opportunity to sail a really nice, big boat. It was fun, for sure. Still, as a biologist, the high points of my day were when we saw "critters" such as crabs, osprey, and . . . jellyfish! Oh my - I've never seen so many jellyfish in my life. There is not a square foot of water in that part of the Chesapeake Bay that does not have jellyfish in it right now. Some are the size of quarters and some have umbrellas the size of dinner plates. One thing is for sure - after seeing so many, I knew there would be no swimming in that water!

The photo of the day that I chose to post was taken at the end of the day. I was taking a photograph of a jellyfish in the water. I didn't notice my own reflection while taking the photo - only when I was looking at them later on. I like it though. I was lying on the dock, leaning over to get a close-up view of a decent sized jellyfish with this photo. To me this photo is really cool because the jellyfish became a very small part of it! The reflection from the water created most of the photo.

It is a little funny (ironic) to me that I kept thinking during the entire trip, "Why did I not bring my digital SLR with a polarizing lens to photograph through the reflection on the water!" Yet, the thing about this photo that I like so much exists only because I did not have a polarizing lens.

I'm just glad I didn't drop my camera in the water . . .