Every image has a story behind it and “The Scavenger” is no exception. I absolutely love this little image as much as for the symmetry as the moment in time. Here’s the story….

I found myself sitting on the hot sand in Ecuador with shirt over my head for shade and my camera trained on the two surfers in the lineup that I was there to photograph. We had just flown from LAX to Guayaquil, deplaned tired and a bit disoriented, stuffed all of our surf and photography gear in the van of our guide, and driven straight to the coast. Without shower or food, we all quickly changed out of our travel clothes and into our boardshorts, enjoying the South American February sun, and made a dash for the water. Cooled and rejuvenated, the boys hit the water and I set up on the sand with my tripod mounted 500mm lens.

For the next hour, I took shot after shot, feeding off the energy of the surfers and feeling the weight of travel and a hectic life sliding off my back. There was not another sole to be seen on miles of sand as we had this spot all to ourselves. It is one of those moments when you have to pinch yourself and wonder how it is you got so lucky? The boys were putting on a show and I was clicking away.

Sometimes I get so focused on my shooting I don’t always notice what is happening around me. This was one of those times. During a break in swells, I leaned back away from my viewfinder, moved the shirt away from my face, and realized I wasn’t alone on the beach after all. To the contrary, the beach was crawling with life – the 10 legged type! Sure enough, every time I was still and focused on shooting, these little guys would come out of their holes in the sand and start walking sideways towards me. From all sides! Yet, as soon as I moved back from the lens, they would duck into the nearest hole. This became a silent game on a deserted Ecuadorian beach: let them creep forward; then scare them away. Again and again.

Did I look like a big white whale to them? My mind flashed to old cartoons of Tom & Jerry where Jerry took on the shape of a chicken drumstick to the famished Tom. “Well,” I told myself, “no matter how tired and jet lagged I was, there was no way I was going to take a nap on this beach!!” What a wonderful and interesting introduction to the great country of Ecuador!

“The Scavenger” 30×19″ print on metal