Photographer Tim Shields recently took part in a photo walk in the city White Rock, British Colombia. As the weather started getting wild, the situation went from interesting to deadly in the blink of an eye.
The morning started as a simple outing with his adult daughter to capture some impressive weather at the shores. Unusually strong winds made for choppy waves and cleared all the usual foot traffic from the walkway at the water's edge. The only people out were drawn to the spectacle created by mother nature.
White Rock has a beautiful pier that was built in 1914 to provide a deep-water mooring facility. Shields went out on the pier to get some pictures when he noticed the marinas nearby had lost their hold on some sailboats. In his excitement to capture and document the events taking place in front of him, Shields lost track of his own safety. It wasn't long before the loose boats changed direction completely and were heading right for the pier.
Watch the video to see just how close of a call it truly became for Shields and a number of others that day. Let this be a lesson and a serious reminder to stay safe out there.
Have a look at Shield's website for more incredible photos from the scene.
I did about 34 years of search and difficult terrain rescue.. We are here only if we are polite to the environment.
Had time to film it though?
Well explained. Nature is never to be messed with.
I’m so glad everyone is safe and well at the end. I don’t know what I would do in that situation, but I’m pretty sure I would never walked into that pier in such bad weather. Of course I’m not making any judgment about your decision to go there, maybe I’m just not that brave lol! Stay safe!
Anyone from that area would have assumed they were safe since they get wild storms all the time without issue.
situational awareness is hard.
It's safer to stay put because the structure should hold. Going pass that broken pier definitely added a lot more uncertainty. Glad everyone is safe.