Got sent out on Jan. 1 to shoot the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual plunge. I just needed to make one stand-alone photo for the paper, so I was given license to look away from the typical pictures of people running straight at you splashing away and try to come away with something different. Here's a quick take.

Participants dive into the cold water taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

Rogue sandals wash up onto the beach as participants dive into the cold water taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

Shilpa Narayan of Park Slope drapes herself in a thermal blanket next to her boyfriend Gregg Stankewicz of Gawanus after divinginto the cold water taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

Mike Spinelli of Staten Island sips from a bottle of Chivas Regal after diving into the cold water taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

A flock of seagulls flies over Neal Lerner of Seagate, Brooklyn as he tries to warm up after diving into the cold water taking part in the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

Dick Shea takes a solitary dip in the water near the end of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club's annual polar bear plunge on New Years Day. CREDIT: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times