I figure several years is long enough in between posts, so here’s a short one about a recent image taken at Furlong Gulch on the Sonoma Coast in January, shortly after sunrise.
This beach is tucked between dramatic rock formations that jut up from the water. That morning, I focused on the prominent sea stack toward the south end of the short beach. The early sun lit up its face in warm tones while the surrounding cliffs stayed in shadow.
Pacific Surge
The tide was high, and the waves were hitting harder than in appears in this shot. I worked my way between the rocks on the beach, testing different angles and compositions. Each position changed the relationship between the foreground boulders and that central, sunlit stack. I had to stay alert—waves kept surging up around my feet, and I needed to protect my gear from the spray.
I opted for a relatively fast exposure that captured the movement of the ocean while also allowing just a bit of the silky effect that makes the scene look peaceful. But standing there, it was a different story: cold spray, watching for larger waves, timing the shots between sets. The photograph shows tranquility, but getting it required constant movement and awareness.
That gap between what the camera captures and what it felt like to be there is part of what keeps me coming back to spots like Furlong Gulch. The coast always has more going on than any single frame can show.