Between Water and Sky

I made this photograph in a nature preserve in the Fort Lauderdale area while photographing with another photographer named Sarah.

Sarah was a phenomenal photographer, and I knew that she had studied photography at the university level. I don't remember exactly what her degree or major was, so I don't want to reconstruct that part of her story from memory.

What I do remember is why she was there with me.

I respected her work, and I had asked her to come along and give me some pointers while we photographed the preserve together.

It was a nice, beautiful day.

We moved through the area making photographs, and this was one of the scenes I found along the way.

Two groups of mangroves stood in the water, their exposed roots visible beneath the foliage and their reflections extending across the surface.

When I returned to the photograph years later, I wanted the greens to feel lush and alive. I described the direction of the edit as giving the photograph a summer look.

The metadata later reminded me that the photograph was actually made in April.

That summer quality therefore belongs to how I chose to present the photograph today, not to the season in which Sarah and I were standing there making photographs.

What remains from that day is something more important.

I was learning.

I had gone out with someone whose photography I respected because I wanted another photographer to help me see more clearly.

And somewhere during that day, I found this photograph.

Between Water and Sky is structured around two separate groups of mangroves and their reflections.

The larger vegetation mass enters from the left edge while the smaller, more isolated group occupies the center-right portion of the frame. Open water between and around them prevents the two forms from merging visually and establishes a quiet spatial relationship.

The exposed root systems provide warm structural detail beneath the green canopies. Their darker reflections extend downward into the water without becoming perfect mirror images.

A narrow distant shoreline establishes depth while remaining sufficiently understated to avoid becoming a competing subject. Above it, the broad cloud-filled sky balances the reflective water below.

The photograph was made during an outing with another photographer, Sarah, whom Colón had invited to accompany him because he respected her work and wanted her photographic guidance.

This context places the photograph within a period of active photographic learning. The resulting image is therefore both an observation of a Florida mangrove environment and a record of a day spent learning alongside another photographer.

During the 2026 edit, Colón developed the vegetation toward what he described as a summer look. Capture metadata establishes April 23, 2015 as the actual date of exposure. The Studio therefore records the summer quality as presentation intent rather than original seasonal context.

Looking at this photograph now, I remember more than the mangroves.

I remember who was there.

Sarah was a photographer whose work I respected, and I had asked her to photograph with me because I wanted to learn from her.

There is something familiar to me about that decision now.

Photography has never simply been about owning a camera and deciding that I already know how to use it.

There is always something else to learn.

Sometimes another photographer notices something you don't.

Sometimes a different way of looking makes you reconsider your own.

And sometimes the lesson does not reveal itself until years later, when you return to an old photograph and begin looking again.

I don't remember every pointer Sarah gave me that day.

I don't need to invent those details now.

What I remember is that I respected her photography enough to ask her to come with me and help me become better at mine.

The photograph preserves the mangroves.

My memory preserves the person who was standing somewhere nearby while I was learning to photograph them.

Between Water and Sky was photographed on April 23, 2015, at a nature preserve in the Fort Lauderdale area of Florida.

The precise preserve is no longer recalled and has not been independently established in the Studio archive. It is therefore intentionally left unidentified.

Colón made the photograph while visiting the preserve with a photographer named Sarah, whose work he admired and whom he had asked to accompany him and provide photographic guidance. Colón remembers that Sarah had studied photography at the university level but does not remember her specific degree or major; the archive therefore does not assign one.

He remembers the outing as a pleasant, beautiful day spent photographing the preserve together.

The original exposure measured 5760 × 3840 pixels. The final presentation measures 5579 × 3487 pixels, representing a relatively modest crop from the original frame.

The photograph depicts two groups of mangroves surrounded by calm water, with exposed roots and reflections forming important structural components of the composition.

During editing in 2026, Colón intentionally developed the photograph toward what he described as a "summer look," emphasizing the lush character of the vegetation while preserving the subdued water and cloud structure.

EXIF metadata establishes April 23, 2015 as the actual capture date. The Studio therefore distinguishes the later summer-inspired presentation from the original season.

The photograph also documents an enduring aspect of Colón's photographic development: a willingness to seek guidance from photographers whose work he respects.