As the sea retreated at low tide they came in swarms and like a massive stampede they roamed the exposed sand.
I could hear the noise they make when their tiny claws; hundreds of them collectively sounded like a swarm of locust.
I lowered myself to a foot above ground and a magical world appeared in front of me.
army of soldier crabs
But as soon as I creep a few feet closer they start to move hastily away from me.
I chase them, I want to observe them close-up.
They can not outrun me but they can hide again, quickly burring themselves into the sand with a funny circular digging motion.
I must have looked like a child running after the micro monsters, camera in hand, hovered a foot above ground. I would get close enough but by the time I would compose my image and focus the lens they would be gone below the surface.
Pesky little soldier crabs: so captivating yet so elusive.
I was camped at my favorite little island in Moreton Bay; in front of me the somehow less attractive stretch of beach to the power boats as they can't access it for being too shallow.
I calmly waited for the evening to come and replace that harsh midday tropical light; ideal time to capture photographs.
Some call it happy hour, I call it golden hour, for different reasons.
.
great pics & accompanying words.
ReplyDeleteHow were the mossies/midgees?
admittedly there were a few mosquitoes around but further back, at the campsite in the trees. Given the recent rain they were expected
DeleteWow! Beautiful, poetic, and very cool :) Thanks for sharing the experience. I think you managed to get fabulous photos. The blues and yellows are gorgeous. I could imagine a video with the sound effects :) Enjoyed it so much, I read the post 3 times over. Cheers from Canada! The wind is way up and fierce here today.
ReplyDeleteto capture the sound of the crabs I would need a decent external microphone since the on-board one is... ghetto. Running after the crabs would also produce rather jerky footage. It was hard enough for me to get photographs; I am not skilled enough to take video, but yes, it would be awesome to get that footage and sound.
DeleteBTW: 32C degrees here today. I have a theory: the world gets allocated a limited amount of warm/calm weather and there is not enough to get around everywhere. Today is your turn to miss out but I would be happy to trade a bit of yours for mine :-)
Yes, this is true about the weather. We have it all here in Canada with 4 seasons, but we have to wait and wait for the fleeting moments of warm stuff :) Fall is my favorite season here, summer and winter are enjoyable. Spring thaw mud - I have trouble with! Cheers from the North!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, Damiano. The bottom image looks like raspberries -Mmmmm!
ReplyDeleteGreat Photos
ReplyDelete