If the title sounds vaguely familiar, then you may have already started humming the familiar tune by Otis Redding i.e. “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” If you haven’t heard it before, then I must be really getting old. But, I certainly recommend that you jump over to YouTube and grab a listen. “Fishing on the Dock of the Bay” is a small play on words, but, I think it still carries the spirit of the song’s chorus line.

The chorus line went much like this:

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

And, believe me, those words resonated when I saw this fisherman fishing on Onondaga lake just seconds after the sun had dipped below the tops of the trees bordering the eastern side of the lake. I am pretty sure he was not wasting time, rather passing the time away engaged in activity that he enjoys. But, I can’t deny the thoughts that the photo conjures up with its still waters, pastel-like colors in the sky and tree tops and the easy going mood the scene evokes.

My only regret, no my only desire, was that I wish I had a slightly longer lens something that would compress the photo even more and blur the trees in the background just a little to offset the fisherman from the rest of the scenery. And, it would allow me to do something that Robert Capa always preached, “If your picture isn’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” But, until I win the lottery and get a longer lens, or by some miracle I learn how to walk water, I will be content with capturing the spirit of the scene regardless of the lens I have available. So, I hope you enjoy, Fishing on the Dock of the Bay.