This video was shot in late February 2016 at Benson Marina on the Cutler Reservoir near Logan, UT. Spring was just arriving, and the warmer weather beckoned the ice to melt and break up. Geese honked all around the reservoir in noisy percussion as they solicited mates and nested in the nearby corn fields.
The combination of chattering geese, melting ice, still water and a series of glorious sunsets provided a fertile environment inspiring this shoot. My daughter, viewing the final panoramic photo, observed that the ice appeared as a precarious ledge from which one could seemingly jump off into outer space. The reflections of the evening sapphire sky projecting onto the cool still water formed an illusion etching the icy ledge over outer space. Reinforcing the spectacle, the repeated patterns of geese tracks stamped in the snow traversed to the very edge of that ledge and disappeared into the abyss.
This juxtaposition of symbols inspired the the photo’s title, “The Jumping off Ledge”. Experiences such as these never cease to remind me of the Divine, and the words of our Creator as revealed to the ancient prophet Abraham come to mind. “For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.” Abraham 2:7, Pearl of Great Price (Originally published on Vimeo)