What Lurks in the Shallows?

It was while I was on vacation in Portugal on November 11th 2007, that I decided to take my newly purchased Digital Ixus 65 out on a test run. The Ixus had only been around for seven years, but the quality of the photos was impressive.

Climbing halfway up a cliff that was overlooking the beach I thought I’d see just how good the optical and digital zoom was.

A Secret Oranges Fun Fact! The word ‘Selfie’ was first used on 13 September 2002. This was one of mine, using a dusty roadside mirror on the way to the beach.

Anyway, there was a young couple below who seemed to be watching something in the water, so I zoomed in to see what it was.

At first, they were just standing there on the sand staring intently at… something.

(The video capabilities were nowhere near as good as an iPhone would be now, but still pretty good for 2007).

They tentatively ventured into the ocean…

Pretty impressive zoom, huh? and… WTF!?!?

Whatever it was quickly disappeared from view.

Then abruptly resurfaced!

This was something that was definitely not worth sticking around for!

Photos © 2024 Steve Cook

I showed this set of images to my students at the first of their Photoshop classes, when I was a lecturer at the London College of Fashion. I explained to them that once they’d learnt a few image manipulation skills they could make their holiday snaps far more interesting!

Pinch, Punch, First of the Month! 🙃