Here are the final pictures from that fateful day. Everyone was over by the rocks, I was at the water’s edge. Story of my life!

I set up a little away from the waves first. My best picture from that series (processed in LR3) is shown below.

It all seemed to be going well and so I decided to move right into the waves. After about 15 shots, a rogue wave came along, I turned around to avoid it, even though I was already soaked up to my knees. It took a split second and as I turned back, I saw my tripod tip over in slow motion. The sand and water engulfed the camera instantly. All I heard was the motor whirling aimlessly, like a heart beating pointlessly outside the body.

Then embarrassment settled in, I felt like everyone in the class was judging me and thought I saw one of the students shake her head in pity. The walk back to the car was all about shame. By the time I started driving, all I cared about was that the images would be alright. I had already given up on the camera, the motor was still whirling but with less vigor. It was slowly dying in the back seat of my car.

Well here it is, the last shot with my D90.

I prefer the first set of pictures I took before I stepped into the waves. Sometimes you just need to know when to stop.

See Part 1 here