Cloud Controller

Finding A Window Of Opportunity

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Sometimes you "see" a shot where you least expect it. And I guess it is just as important to recognise the opportunity as it is to drop everything, pick up a camera and take the shot.

I took this in our room at the Sheraton in Perth a few days ago, when we were on the west coast of this huge country-continent. My Ray-Bans ("sunnies", as we call them here) were on the table and I was just getting a few things organised before my nephew’s wedding when I noticed the clean reflection in one lens of the sunglasses.

The temperature was closing in on 39 Celsius, which is about 100 Fahrenheit, so it wasn’t surprising that the sky was clear, unsullied blue as far as the eye could see. And given that we were on the 17th floor of the Sheraton, my eye could see a very long way across the beautiful Swan River.

I chose to focus on the gold rim of the Ray-Bans, which I thought would draw attention to the reflection of the sky, graced with only a single cloud. Had I waited, the cloud would have changed shape or disappeared entirely.

I didn’t move the sunglasses to get a better view of the reflection, simply because I believe that the true test of a photographer is the ability to shoot any scene in any light at any angle and at any time. On this occasion, I was lucky, because the colours of the electronic room keycard, the hue of the wooden surface of the desk and the golden shapes of the coins were perfect for what I was trying to achieve.

Just for the record, those are two-dollar coins, the second-smallest in Australian currency. In the photograph below, you can also see a few one-dollar coins on the right of the frame. The two-dollar coins are only fractionally larger in circumference than our little five-cent coins. Maybe this was the "money shot" in more ways than one.


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