Sunday Fun Day: Tim Sharkey

For me, the ideal “Sunday Fun Day,” make that any day during the summer boating season, is spent on or above the water either preserving a split second in time with still images or moments in time with video. Investing more this year in video equipment, I get to tell a longer story than I can tell with a single image.

This Sunday—and Saturday—I plan to be chasing waves and documenting beach erosion for the Coastal Research Center of Stockton University. I was contacted by their director, and they’re very interested in the effects of the new steel wall installed on the New Jersey Coast. The response I received, especially from engineers, on my October 2015 “Nor’ Easter Video” was amazing up and down the entire East Coast. Apparently, there is a shortage of video documentation of real-time footage with waves hitting our area.

For photographer/videographer Tim Sharkey, chronicling the before-and-after effects of severe weather such as Super Storm Sandy (above) is an ideal Sunday Fun Day. Photo courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images.

With blizzard conditions on Saturday it might be a total whiteout, but I am still going to try. So Sunday will be my Fun Day as the storm Jonas is expected to depart and the sun is supposed to come out. Winds are predicted to be around 50 mph with gusts up to 65 mph gusts. I am hoping they calm down by Sunday afternoon. The director of the Coastal Research Center of Stockton University had a list of requests for me of “before and after” images.

I am taking Monday off from my day job to dedicate more time to this project, which is a volunteer effort for now. Hopefully, someday an organization with a budget will pick up some of my work.

Editor’s Note: Veteran high-performance powerboat and offshore racing photographer Tim Sharkey is a frequent contributor to speedonthewater.com. His work is featured in the recently published and currently on sale Speed On The Water 2015 Year In Review Print Edition magazine.

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