Ever See Jumping Monks?

Well this was one of those days. It wasn’t a great day, I wanted to shoot but I wasn’t completely motivated. The day was pretty clear for once in San Francisco and there wasn’t much for clouds, which is unusual. It didn’t seem like it would be the most interesting photography I’d have ever done so, I wrestled with the idea of going up or just going home. I was wanting something panoramic and I knew I would need to stitch at least three frames together, so I decided to go ahead and shoot at least for practice and to scout a spot to shoot at.

As I drove to the top of the hill, I saw a group of monks climbing up one of the peaks and thought, “well my shoot just got a little more interesting.” Rushing, I parked my car, grabbed my camera and lenses, and ran up to the peak to find them. While I was running up I thought I would have seen these monks just either sitting and enjoying the sight or, more stereotypically, meditating. That would have been good enough for me, but I got so much more.

As i approached the peak, it got much more interesting. These guys seemed to be having the time of their lives. They were laughing, playing and jumping with one another and posing for a fellow monks camera. The monks were trying to get the perfect mid air shot with the skyline behind them. I’ve been around many monks in my travels and I have never seen such a sight, it felt like this would be a once in a lifetime moment. I was experiencing nothing but pure gratitude in this moment and this moment turned my whole day around.

The shot I went to get, not as exciting as the monks. Like I said, it was a practice shoot.