California - Humboldt County

Every so often, a wave would strike the foreground rock, making some nice patterns in front of the dark background. So I waited.. and waited. Finally it happened when there were reflections at the same time. I had to get hit by several waves first though because I had to stand my ground with the tripod deep in the sand!

Grandmother Rock bears witness to yet another impressive sunset at Trinidad Beach, just north of Eureka, California. I moved in a little closer to highlight Grandmother rock and how she almost is looking up to the sky. It is really quite striking. I made sure to get the best reflection possible to enhance the mood even further. And I waited to a wave to happen at the same time as the reflection. The two variables did not happen very often it seemed.

As the sunset progressed, I noticed an unusual circular vortex forming in the lower cloud deck. It was not a tornado nor a cyclone, but it moved quickly. I waited for it to move over (behind) the little island to draw the eye to it even more. I have never seen anything like it. It was gone in a few minutes.

Grandmother Rock bears witness to yet another impressive sunset at Trinidad Beach, just north of Eureka, California.

I wanted to get a long exposure to finish off this unforgettable evening. But rather than wait for it to get darker, I pulled out my trusty, very dark circular Hoya ndx 400 (10-stop) filter. I wanted a long exposure while there was still a nice red color to the sky. After several attempts, I finally had the effect I wanted!

Low tide at sunset produces some nice effects on a flat beach such as the ones near Trinidad. So when I noticed some dramatic cloud and light behind Camel Rock, I included lots of soft ripples to contrast with the dramatic cloud and rock. Waves kept moving in and erasing the patterns and reflections, so it took quite a while before things settled down into the arrangement you see here. Then I waited for some breakers to happen in front of the rock.

The light briefly illuminated the beach on this cloudy evening, so I arranged the rocks into a big triangle and then the light made triangle-shaped shadows. This only lasted for a few minutes so I consider myself fortunate to have seen this in person! Camel Rock is in the middle with the two 'humps' not visible since they are lined up with the camera.

Trinidad State beach is a photographer's paradise, especially at low tide. The flat beach creates lots of pools and reflective sand patterns. Here, the first light of day brightens up the higher clouds, leaving the lower ones still in the shadows for extra drama on a warm and humid morning.

A very low tide on this morning created a still pool that extended out to the breakers. Every minute or so, waves would interrupt the stillness and then things would become still again. I waited for a time where I would get 30 seconds of stillness. The extra long exposure made things look even more still, and was made possible by a very dark circular filter. The clouds moved a lot during the 30 seconds. I made sure to include some solid sand and some offshore rocks and islands to anchor the image somewhat to reality!

It is not always stormy or foggy in the little town of Trinidad, just north of Eureka, California. This was a great evening to stroll the beach and watch a pleasant sunset with some good colors in the sky and sand. It was just a relaxing and enjoyable moment. I noticed how there were lots of layers forming when several waves were breaking at once, and then I added other layers by waiting for the sand to be part reflective and part dry.

When the tide is high, the receding water sometimes makes striking patterns in the sand. And when a bit of soft light hits them, the effect is even better. They only lasted for seconds so it took a while to capture them when the waves were breaking right.

Low tide in the morning erases all footprints and creates a myriad of interesting patterns and shapes. The problem is, in order to see and photograph them, you have to make your own footprints. The beach looks so perfect that you don't even want to spoil it by walking on it! Also, the footprints can spoil a photo.

Here is a perfect example of why you should be careful walking on an unspoiled beach at low tide. I had to approach this spot from the background hill by walking on the very far left-side of this beach, so as to not have any footprints should I wish to photograph the length of this beach. The beach was so perfect that I felt bad even walking here. But others had no guilt and neither did their dogs, so I had to shoot fast since there was a walker and a dog just behind those rocks in the middle-ground! Moments later, there were tracks everywhere and the patterns in the stream were ruined for the day.

Image #1 of 2. The Mattole river flows from high mountains to the deserted Lost coast of Humboldt county. There are no towns on this stretch of coastline. It is desolate and beautiful. In this set of two images, it was a foggy day so I decided to make an abstract representation of the river mouth rather than my normal style of highly detailed seascapes.

Image #2 of 2. The Mattole river flows from high mountains to the deserted Lost coast of Humboldt county. There are no towns on this stretch of coastline. It is desolate and beautiful. In this set of two images, it was a foggy day so I decided to make an abstract representation of the river mouth rather than my normal style of highly detailed seascapes.