Santiny was in right place at right time Monday morning
Professional photographer Sarah Santiny never goes too far without her trusty camera, and her Memorial Day trip to the beach on Grand Isle was no exception.
The 28-year-old owner of Sarah Elizabeth Photography in Baton Rouge was with her husband Nico and their kids Monday morning around 8:30 when she captured an image that’s sure to get speckled trout surf fishermen’s hearts racing.
“I was just snapping pictures of the kids and then I noticed the wave. There were two waves of them,” Santiny said. “The first wave, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t have my camera ready for that.’
“And the second one came, and I was able to get it.”
Santiny’s image, which she shot using a Nikon D610 and a 50 mm lens, shows what looks like a big school of trout riding a clear-water wave just about to break.
It was a good thing she acted quickly, because she wouldn’t have gotten another chance.
“They were gone after that,” she said. “The school was gone, but mullet were jumping everywhere.”
Dodie Vegas at Bridge Side Marina said the image has been making the rounds on Grand Isle, and her son-in-law Jared Pennison — an avid surf fisherman — was especially impressed.
“When Jared looked at it, he said, ‘That’s trout. That’s speckled trout in there,’” Vegas said.
Santiny said she was across from Lem Lane, near the middle of the island, when she took the photograph.
“My kids were up on the beach playing to my left,” she said with a chuckle. “Thank God they weren’t in my shot.”
