The Eye of the Beholder by Travis Nickle
I don’t know how many times a fish went apeshit when I hooked into it, as they tug and rip around my heart races and I envision some monster that would break my heart if it got off. I need to land it just to see if it’s what I hoped and thought it would be. Recently, I was fortunate enough to have witnessed a man’s vision unfold before his eyes. Unlike the monster fish I envision and hope to catch, his vision was far more rare and elusive. Unlike me and the fish though, this one wouldn’t get away. I got home from work at about 5:30 to see that the photo assassin had called a few times. I knew that there were a few particular images he had in mind and I was excited to watch his genius at work, so the return call would define the evening’s mission. We made a rough plan and set out. It was still well lit by the late afternoon sun, an absolute contrast from the evening ahead. An area he felt would shoot well for a sunset shot would serve as our evening area also. We had an hour to burn before sunset and hours before absolute darkness, so we ventured to the nearest town to gas up and grab some goodies. The drive to town and back set us up for a great sunset at the right time too. He got his sunset shots so now we had some time to burn before night would set in. The late night would require some assistance in order for me to stay awake, so I made some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies to aid in consciousness or nervousness, either way I needed some help in the awake department. The photo slayer however was on a different plane, he buzzed about preparing for the evening as if it were in the morning, but it was 10 at night. His excitement aided him in the fight against sleepiness so he didn’t require the cookie fix I did. The sky had finally darkened a bit, so we made our way to the chosen location. He again eye balled the place and surroundings so to be aware of what and where things were before the darkness consumed them. He was nearly vibrating with excitement as he checked various angles and seemed to somehow sense an incredible moment was at hand. He wasted no time in finding a variety of angles as the darkening sky slowly illuminated the stars above. He moved to a spot where we could see some strange highlights over the mountains, which as a know-it- all local I thought to be cirrus clouds reflecting light from the area, he thought differently. He was right. As the night developed so did the northern lights. I watched them with awe and glanced over at my friend to see his expression. His eyes were wide open due to the spectacle overhead, as he looked toward the sky he snapped shots. He looked into the sky like a father looks into his newborn’s eyes for the first time. He loved what he was seeing and it was written on his face. It was also captured on the camera. The light show was ending so we packed up to go. A relatively quiet ride home was in store since words couldn’t do justice to the experience, but photos could. The shots he had taken were amazing and my nickname for him became obvious to me - “The Ginja Ninja.” If you see him the ginger requires no explanation, but the ninja is because he will sneak up on a shot and kill it! I could feel as I sat beside him a sense of relief, he had captured an image he envisioned years before, traveling all over to capture glimpses of it. And now finally, it was in the eye of the beholder.