the most important photograph I've ever taken

I’ve been fascinated by photography for as long as I can remember.  And for a number of years my main interest has been capturing the landscape in a way that I hope portrays it in a beautiful way.

My ability to enjoy my photography to the full was abruptly ended in 2014 with my cancer diagnosis and a spinal fracture which left me permanently disabled.  So, no more hiking to remote locations for me.

But it was nearly much more serious.  In early 2015 I suffered a reaction to my chemotherapy treatment which nearly killed me and left me with permanent lung damage seriously compromising my fitness even further.

On Christmas Eve 2015, just over five months after the stem-cell transplant that undoubtedly saved my life, I went out for a drive on my own.  Well, apart that is from having my camera for company.  I’d not taken a (proper) photograph in over a year!

I headed to Mumbles and to Limeslade Bay, one of my all-time favourite locations not just for photography but also for just resting and looking out to sea – something I’d enjoyed for many years.

I parked right opposite the thirty or so steps that lead down to the bay, grabbed my camera bag, tripod and my walking frame and headed down to the small concrete standing area overlooking the beautiful bay.

I took my camera out and composed the scene I wanted to capture.  It was then I realised that I’d completely forgotten how to operate my camera in its manual mode – my preference for getting the image I wanted.

The frustration overtook me, and I started to cry.  How could I forget something that was for so long second nature to me?  Composing myself, I thought logically about what I wanted to achieve: a lovey sunset shot with an exposure just long enough to record the motion in the waves.

And then at precisely six minutes past four on Christmas Eve, just as the sun was setting, I pressed my remote shutter release button and hoped for the best.

The result is one of the favourite images of all I’ve ever taken.  It’s also in my mind the most important image I’ve ever made.  

Had I not gone out for that drive and taken my camera with me I seriously doubt I’d have continued with my hobby.  I was severely depressed and physically broken.  I walked with the aid of a frame when not in a wheelchair and could only manage a few steps at a time.  In fact, the walk back up the steps to my car took me over half an hour such was the pain my walking caused.

Of course, when I got home, I had a row.  I’d been really stupid.  I knew that.  I could have fallen, had a heart attack or…well anything could have happened to me, and I doubt that at that time on Christmas Eve anyone would have been around or walking down to the bay to come to my rescue.

I still return to Limeslade Bay regularly and it will be one of the first places I visit when we eventually emerge from this pandemic induced lockdown.

Wouldn’t it be lovely and somewhat appropriate to return there on Christmas Eve 2020 and make one more image?

the details matter little