I love finding an image in my library that I have looked past and discarded multiple times, and then realizing it’s potential and bringing life to it. The obvious photos are great, but these little hidden gems have a special place in my portfolio . On our recent trip to California, my wife Kristin and I were driving back to Orange County after a rather disappointing trip to San Diego. We drove to San Diego to scout a place for sunset and I could not for the life of me find a good place. Now, you can take snapshots anywhere, but an HDR or landscape photograph has a lot of criteria to meet before it becomes worth taking. There has to be something unique or intriguing in every part of the frame. So after visiting the USS Midway and having a corn dog at Hot Dog On A Stick (we ate there during our honeymoon so it’s tradition ), we bailed on San Diego in hopes to find somewhere on the way back the OC. There were a lot of unique challenges in taking pictures of the beach. I have become very picky on what I take pictures of and it can be frustrating at times. Everybody has seen the typical picture of a beach with the sand, the waves, and the sky behind it. So I always try and bring something extra into the sides of the frame when I can. This could be a pier, a bluff, some rocks, people, etc, whatever makes the shot interesting.

When I took this image, there was nothing to bring into the frame besides the sand, the waves, and the sky; the typical image. But to me, there was something unique about this one. The waves would crash and pour in about 5 feet past where I was standing every few minutes. And every time the waves receded back they would pull this deep, buried, black sand with it along with the usual sand. This black sand I guess was native to the beach but was buried underneath the normal sand. What was so cool about it was the veiny streams the waves carved out to reveal the darker sand beneath. Pair that with the incredible colors the sunset provided and the distorted lines of a 15mm fisheye lens, and you have the image below. You may also be interested to know that the only reason the sand is reflecting the colors of the sky is because a wave had just receded back to the ocean and the sand was wet and water was still streaming through the veins down to the ocean. The HDR process brings these reflections out and makes them pop, so the sand is like a mirror image of the clouds and sky above.

Low Tide at Carlsbad State Beach, California

P.S. I put my heart and soul into making these image. If you like what you see, or don’t like what you see, let me know! Comments are how I gauge whether or not I’m creating images that people love and remember. Cheers!

P.S.S. After I took this shot, we visited a place called Harbor Fish Cafe right on the beach. They had some of the best fish n’ chips I’ve ever had. And I am complete sucker for good fish n’ chips. They served the fish on a cardboard plate with a roll of paper towels. Brilliant! Can’t wait to go back!

P.S.S.S. Now I’m really hungry