The Colours of Skaket Beach

The man in the silver car put down the windows, picked up his flute and started to play. The sweet sounds drifted across the warm sands and into the empty bay, the low tide leaving damp sand exposed for hundreds of yards.

A black photographer and an oriental model worked down in a dip, the setting sun behind her and her purple ball-gown, her face lit by a reflector and his flash.

An oriental woman with a club foot and crutches walked with her white friend, smiling at us as they went by.

Various groups of people littered the beach, annoyingly, as I was photographing Colleen and trying to get a clean and golden background.

The sun sank lower, flirting with the ocean, as the notes of Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring floated through the evening air (warm for me, cool for Colleen).  Brilliant yellows, golds, pinks and blues mingled in the sky.

The sun touched the ocean and my camera shutter crackled again and again, sometimes accompanied by flash to light up Colleen’s face, sometimes alone to get her in silhouette.

The sun disappeared.

Everyone burst into applause in appreciation.

I put my camera away.  The flute stopped.  Show over.