Photographers highlight aspects of living at the Beaches

Local photographers each capture the essence of the Beaches through their own unique lenses. From sunrise to surfing and wildlife to nightscapes, Harriet Pruette, Julz Arnold, Saul and Deborah Freiden, and Glenn Shuck create images that reflect their individual perceptions of beauty, but they each find joy and purpose in creating and sharing images of this island community we call "home."
Harriet Pruette
For Harriet Pruette, every day is a new day. Capturing that precious space between the edge of night and dawning of a new day is part of the morning ritual for the former Neptune Beach mayor. Rising before the sun, she makes her way down to the oceanfront with her G-16 hand camera to document the sunrise as she done every morning since 2014.
“I just started taking pictures," she said. "I didn’t get up early to go down there until then. I decided to put them on Facebook and everybody liked them. I’ve taken thousands. Your eye is like your camera lens. Everybody sees things different. Different colors. Sometimes my G-16 takes beautiful pictures and sometimes my camera phone doesn’t. I just pick out one picture every day and put it on Facebook.”
Pruette braves the elements, often making her way down to the beach in less than desirable conditions. She even bought special gear to protect herself from the bitter cold and keep the tradition going.
“About four years ago, I went down there in nine or 10 degree weather. I bought me all these clothes to wear. It was the coldest we’ve had. In the last couple of years, every year it’s gotten warmer. That alone can tell you how the weather has changed in the morning time. You can see just by getting out every day how the weather has changed. And I’m getting older, too. Sometimes it gets a little bit cold in my bones. The wind can be very chilling."
In six years, she’s only missed a handful of days, but her followers definitely took notice. When she was sidelined recently by illness, there was a flurry of messages of concern.
“I was sick this year for the first time and I missed like five days. I’ve never in six years ever missed more than a day,” she said. “I’m glad to be back out there doing it.”
Many days, the sun doesn’t always cooperate. But she’s found just as many fans of the muted gray tones of a foggy beach as the brilliant reds that color the early morning skies.
“The last pictures I’ve taken in the last few days, it was cloudy and overcast everywhere and you just saw this little bit of sun that came out for five minutes then it was gone.”
Capturing more than just the sunrise, she captured an attentive audience, invested in starting their own days with her sunrise photos. She’s thrilled when people share her photos, as long as they ask permission. Like any artist, she has added a watermark to keep people from sharing her photos as their own work.
“I’m very thankful that people want to share my pictures. All they have to do is say, ‘Harriett, I’m going to share your picture.’ I’ve seen a couple people who have taken them and used them on Facebook as their own picture, and I’m not happy with that."
Pruette has thought about compiling some of her favorite images into a coffee table book to give them life beyond social media, but, so far, she’s content to create cards that she gives as holiday gifts. Gallery 725 has created some pieces on canvas for her, especially the reds.
 “I think everybody has a different talent for a different thing when it comes to pictures,” said Pruette. “I’m an amateur. I’m just taking pictures and having fun doing it.”
Julz Arnold
Over the years, Julz Arnold has created images of things that make her happy. Flowers blooming in the yard of her Atlantic Beach home, colorful foods grown from her garden, artfully arranged, shells, driftwood, bowls full of shark teeth, waves and those riding them.  
Just over three years ago, Arnold was walking her favorite stretch of beach at the Poles when she stumbled on the opportunity to combine her love of surfing with her ability to capture the fluid motion of the waves for the 911 Surf Report. Eddie Pitts, who operates 911 Surf Report, noticed her photos on Instagram and invited her to contribute her images to illustrate the daily conditions.
“I’m always inspired," she said. "I had no idea I loved taking pictures as much as I do until Eddie gave me the Canon and said do the report. My favorite places and things to shoot are Hanna [and] my people surfing.”
With a background in graphic arts and a surfer’s eye for style and form, Arnold embraced her new role as surf photographer.
“I had no technical knowledge of photography whatsoever," she said. "I knew how to use my iPhone pretty well and I had graphic design knowledge as far as composition. It’s nice to be able to use those skills that I learned so long ago now.”
Rising at 5 a.m., she makes her way to the Poles to create photo illustrations of the morning surf conditions. She plays with the early haze of dawn, the clean lines of the waves and silhouettes of figures gliding through the surf to give an accurate report of conditions while creating a striking composition. It’s more than just pointing the camera toward the ocean – her passion for the sport echoes through every frame.
“I’ve learned more from shooting surfing in those three and a half years than I did surfing for the previous 28 years. I love what I’m doing. I had someone tell me that it’s the environmentally friendly thing to do to have one person go check [the surf] and let everyone else know how it is,” mused Arnold.
“I feel like I’m finally able to spread my wings creatively. At first, I was afraid I would post the typical one-dimensional surf shots, but getting accolades from my mentors is good and it gave me the confidence to grow and make it more artistic because I know what I’m doing with the camera. I’m not just going out pointing and shooting. I’m always wanting better. And I’m lucky because my work gets published every day. People up and down the east coast see my work every single day. For a photographer, that’s amazing.”
Saul and Debbie Freiden
Capturing the wild side of Florida is part of the adventure for Atlantic Beach photographers Saul and Debbie Freiden. The nature enthusiasts started shooting two years ago just using their phones, until this Valentine’s Day when Saul bought them each a new camera.
“The Beaches is full of wildlife. In the neighborhoods, the beach, the parks, if you look out your window, you see things in the streets and the trees,” said Saul, who began taking photos with his wife as an activity they could enjoy together. “We share the same passion for photography and nature. There’s always an opportunity to take your camera.”
The pair takes advantage of the morning light when places like Dutton Island and Hanna Park are less crowded. It’s in those quiet moments that a river otter makes an appearance or they catch a massive Florida alligator as it silently slices across the water’s surface.
“That’s the fun part, not knowing what you’re going to see. You’re going out on an adventure in the moment and you don’t see it until it’s on the computer,” said Debbie of the couple’s natural, untouched images. “You see what we see.”
Finding their subjects takes patience. Once they spot a subject, they wait, observing the small movements that often lead to a big reward in the final product.
“We’ve had close encounters with gators. We always try to get a unique perspective,” said Debbie, who also takes great care to be respectful of the creatures especially in the spring during mating season. “We are always aware.”
Having a keen sense of awareness also resulted in a beautiful experience when they found a chrysalis on the ground at Hanna Park. Debbie picked up the motionless pod and prepared to nurse it at home in the event if it survived the fall.
“It started moving in my hand,” recalled Debbie.
The couple were overjoyed to document the black swallow-tail butterfly as it emerged from its cocoon. They named her Chrissy and raised her until she was ready to be released back home in Hanna Park.
Sometimes finding a worthy subject is as easy as looking out the window. Recently, they glanced out their back window to find a group of robins squabbling in a small birdbath in the backyard.
The couple began sharing their images on community Facebook pages as a way to temper some of the negativity and make people happy. It worked, and soon people started to inquire about purchasing prints of their work. The couple created their own Facebook page, Images by Saul & Deborah, and got to work transferring some of their pieces to canvas for purchase at art walks and other local events.
“We’re just regular people who live in Atlantic Beach and want to go out and shoot some pictures and have some fun,” said Debbie. “We’re happy with what we’re doing and we’re happy we get to do it together.”
Glenn Shuck
As a photographer, Glenn Shuck is always thinking about his next shot. He is methodical in his approach to his craft. Where most people might only see a busy sidewalk or a brightly-lit restaurant sign, Shuck envisions color, composition and structure. His streetscapes capture the beauty in the minutiae of daily life.
“From day one, my tag line as a beach and street photographer was capturing the fun and beauty in every day moments in Atlantic Beach. It’s really that simple,” he said. “I enjoy both sides. I started out more on the sunrise side of things but I think people know me now as Mr. Sunset.”
Shuck embraces the challenge of working in low-light settings, playing with the shapes and shadows, discovering ways to create captivating images in the darkness that are full of life.
Light is everything in photography, and while he appreciates the crispness of the colors in the day time, Shuck is enjoying the process of playing with moon and the drama created by the clouds to define those interesting moments after the sun has set.
Two hours before sunset, Shuck starts watching the clouds, seeking out those fleeting moments when the sky is at its most magical.
“I’ve been practicing and working and learning how to work that camera for a few years,” said Shuck, who got his first DSL in Christmas of 2013. “What a wonderful kind of backdrop we have here in Atlantic Beach to do sunrise over the beach and sunsets over the Intracoastal and then the night town shots. That’s what’s exciting.”
As Shuck continues to sharpen his skills, he’s discovering new life for his photos outside of the social media platforms where he shares his work. He established an online store where prints are available for purchase on canvas and he’s recently adding his images to metal.
“It’s getting me excited. They look almost 3-D. I am working very hard to bring not only smaller pieces to people but I’m getting involved in some commercial pieces as well. My goal is to bring these images to the wall. I’ve been working really hard to learn phase two in my journey. It’s taken me years to slowly get better in just getting those images,” he remarked of merging his technical acumen with the creative side he didn’t even know existed for a “perfect storm.”
“That’s been a fun journey for me. As I’ve gotten more and more technical with the camera, it opens up your mind as to more and more types of shots. I guess I’m a little bit of a different cat than some of the people that want to walk on the beach and grab a shot. I’ve got shots that I’ve been thinking about and planning for years. I’m always waiting for the right things to line up. It’s so much fun and it’s so rewarding to get the feedback that I get. It’s what gets me going and keeps me going.”