Soulfire

• Prize
  Gold in Fine Art/Landscape
• Photographer
  Michael Simon
• Agency / Studio
  Simon Fine Arts
• Technical Info
  Blue Hour Foreground. 25,000 Iso At 4s For Water & Sky (stacked)
• Photo Date
  9/25/2019

Nestled on the Oregon Coast, there’s a massive sandstone complex waging a constant battle with the sea. When the season, phase of the moon and weather line up just right, every half an hour or so a massive swell will smash into/over the bowl—shooting jets of sea water 50-100 yards in the air. In their wake, a stunning myriad of small streams adorn the bowl . I timed this trip for a new moon towards the end of summer...and then the stars aligned. In addition to capturing the milky way from the center of the bowl, I was blessed with bioluminescence streaming back to the sea.

My mom put a camera in my hands for the first time, and thru it, 50 countries later, I met the world. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was 9, and my parents decided to retire early for her to live out her dreams before eventually passing. Grief showed up as a force of energy and as a psychological and spiritual challenge: in the darkest of places, find magic—the little jewels buried deep within the universe that inside us all, create a spark. My goal is to change your conversations, views, and purpose thru pictures. And in the end...help you see that even in darkness, there is light.