When I met my wife in late 1998 I knew pretty much immediately that I had found someone very special. Over the years many moments have reinforced what I knew from the beginning. I married up. One particular moment in February 2004, however, stands out as an example of just how great she really is. It was the moment I took this picture.
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On our first trip to Hawaii we visited Maui. I was excited to explore the island with my camera; we were young and without kids so we were free to set out on a whim. One morning we decided that no trip to Maui in February would be complete without a whale-watching tour so we caught a pretty big boat out of Lahaina. I had a perfect vantage point near the bow of the boat and Ressia was right behind me. It didn’t take us long to meet up with a number of gorgeous humpbacks; we were particularly fortunate to see frequent breaches. I tried desperately and without much success to catch one of these aquatic spectacles.
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About 45 minutes into the trip I realized that my wife was no longer making any comments, oohs, or ahhs. I pried the camera from my eye and turned to see if she was okay but she was nowhere to be seen. I found her leaning over the rail at the back of the boat; she was giving back to nature. I started to put my camera away and she looked up and said with fire in her eyes, “get the pictures!” She never looked so beautiful…or so green.
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I returned to my spot and within 5 minutes managed to catch this breach about 100 meters off the port side. This is the middle shot of three that caught the entire breach and it’s my favorite. There are unquestionably better humpback breach photos out there but thanks to my wife, this baby’s mine.
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Edit: at my wife’s request I reposted the full color version of this photo.
9 Comments
You’ve received oodles of brownie points from wives the world over! Beautiful, crisp foto.
Behind every successful man there’s quite likely a more successful woman. Thanks!
Great timing and picture!
Thanks Sakis!
Epic.
I got nothing to say.
Except you have a good woman, but you know that.
I do indeed. Thanks Will!
Very impressive picture & wonderfull story
Thank you Eric, for the comment and for visiting! =]
You’re welcome.
I hope to be able to visit Hawai once… but for us it is a loooooooooooong trip…