• Gustave Flaubert.

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Another shot from Sand Dollar beach. I took this shot just before sunset during the golden hour period when the sun was lighting up the shore magnificently. As always with Big Sur there was a hint of fog coming in from the Pacific too.

Thanks for visiting, have great day..

• H. P. Lovecraft.

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I have talked about the Marine Layer in a couple of my earlier posts. Throughout my time on the west coast, I would head out on a trip to the pacific coast highway with a planned shot in min only to see the thick layer of fog roll in from the ocean just before sunset. First, I thought that my luck was just wrong. Then on a trip to Oregon, it happened again at Bandon beach. The day started warm and sunny only to end up with a completely grey sky in the afternoon, with near-freezing temperatures. Undeterred, I returned during sunrise, only to find that conditions haven’t improved. I still took some fantastic moody shots before meeting a couple walking their dog in the morning. We chatted a bit, and I asked about the fog front. They told me about the Marine Layer and how the cold water of the Pacific combined with the warm air from the land causes the formation of one of the most massive fog layers that envelops most of the western coastline of the United States. That’s also when I learned that for the fog to be absent, the temperature of both land and ocean needs to be close, and that means winter. In the case of Oregon, they tend to have very wet winters, so realistically its just September and October where you have a chance to getting some stunning color in the sky. This bit of info was quite a revelation to me, and I went back to my picture folder and checked my images to realize that the only fog-free shot of the coast that I have taken was during a January trip to Pfiefer Beach. It was my light bulb moment. But the Marine Layer is not all bad, the consistent fog is the reason why Coastal Redwoods grow to their massive height in northern California and southern Oregon. So they are alright in my book.

Now a bit about this shot, taken at the beautiful sand dollar beach, a half-mile long beach just north of the jade cove. Due to the unique crescent shape of the beach, it traps water from the currents, and then the summer sun warms them up nicely. On this trip, we stopped for lunch at the picnic area nearby but had the beach all to ourselves. After learning how warm the water was, we ended up spending the whole afternoon here. I have had this sea stack in mind for the sunset shot, and the clouds were positioned perfectly for a spectacular sunset. My plan was for a wide panorama, and as the sun was nearing the horizon, the fog layer rolled in completely hiding the sun and any chance of a great sunset. Being a relatively new photographer, I panicked rather than adjusting to the situation. To this day, I kick myself for not using my telephoto lens and getting some moody detail shots of those massive sea stacks.

Douglas MacArthur.

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One of my favorite shot from the Big Sur trip last weekend. I took this one at the Jade cove from the stairs leading sown to the beach. I had this shot in mind actually as soon as we went there. The only thing that I didn’t anticipate was a thin layer of fog which rolled in just as the sun was setting. I also knew it would be a bear to stitch the shots together when you have well defined wave patterns. I don’t know how it did it but finally my laptop spewed out this image which aligned everything beautifully.

Hope everyone likes it, thanks for visiting..