Gifts from a Beach Walk

I should begin this with the truth: the ocean and beaches and I were never best friends. Growing up, I went to the beach like all other New Jersey families. (or should I say the ‘shore’, because I never called them beaches until I moved west!) I know I played in the sand, making castles, etc., but I don’t recall much about my days spent there as a child. I do recall, if only because my father filmed it on his super 8 movie camera, the time my sisters were throwing seaweed at each other, and somehow I got in the middle of one toss, and received a face full of sandy seaweed. Yuck!! I’m sure I wan’t happy about that.

We went camping to Maine, and I know we spent time on the rocky beaches, more my kind of place, full of shells, snails, and sea stars.

I learned slowly to love the sea. But I took some hard knock-downs in the process. Once, I wanted to photograph a couple having their picture made in front of a dead blue whale carcass, and since I had a wide angle on, I had to move in closer. I knew the waves were coming in, but figured I’d get the shot and get out in time. Not to be! I turned quickly, running up the slope of sand, and the water undercut my feet; I was thrown to the sand, and my only thought was to save the camera! I did manage to keep it from getting a dunking, but the last slap of sandy water hit the battery compartment and that was that. Thankfully, film compartment was safe, and I got the shot, but it was a long wet and cold walk back to the car.

Another time, I was photographing the tide pools near Ft. Point in San Francisco. I knew the rocks were slippery, honestly I did, but you know, when you are in the ‘photo zone’, it’s so easy to forget about the risks. Slip I did, and my 105mm macro lens dipped into the tide pool. Just a little bit, but enough to kill the lens!!

With all that, I still love the sea and the coast and I’ve never given up an opportunity to visit the ocean and its varied beaches. Which is just what I did today.

Today’s visit was not to be a photographic event, but simply a walk on a gorgeous stretch of flat sand, for a good bit of exercise and a refresh of my mind. I had been shown sand dollars that some young girls had collected, and I was excited that I might find some too. I took just my iPhone with me.

What I hadn’t expected was all the other beauty that was there! We’ve had rain squalls moving through the west coast of Olympic National Park for the past 5 days, mixed with sun, gorgeous clouds, and today was simply beautiful. The beach at Kalaloch is flat, wide at low tide, and a joy to walk on. Due to the rains, the beach was wet, and the outgoing tide also left water standing on the beach, and boy was it reflective!

There were bits of shells here and there, and small stones, and a whole lot of small crab shells - all empty and many of them turned ‘belly’ up. Have you ever noticed the iridescent blue inside the crab shell? I hadn’t. Clouds reflected and a bit of prism from the sun added to this composition.

There there is the sand art. Rivulets carved in receding waters, wave ripples creating patterns galore – it was wonderful!

And, as per the way the week was going, it rained a bit on us! I thought it was lovely seeing the light raindrops on the wet beach with the cloud reflections. You can hear the ocean waves, too.

And, after the rain, there was more fun with the ‘craters’ left from raindrops on wet sand.

The walk was outstanding, meditative, and rejuvenating.

Do I wish I had my big-girl camera with me? Perhaps, in some way, because it was a beautiful day and you never know what the next visit will be like. Yet honestly, the phone allowed me flexibility to move and play a bit more than a tripod and camera would. Sometimes, being free from the trappings of a large system allows you to simply be in the moment a bit more. You are not striving for the perfect photo, just trying to capture the awesome experience you’re having.

Iphone Tip: Did you know that if you stick to 1X, and don’t zoom, you will get the largest megapixel image you can? Better to do that and crop in later…My phone does 48mp at 1x, and 12 at 2x. Wow!

It’s ironic, that for all my ‘issues’ with oceans and sand, I still love walking and beach-combing. It’s hard to get me away, when I am finding treasures from the sea. I was very lucky today - several whole sand dollars, which are now drying on my picnic table in the campground. I am a rather happy camper, today!

That’s it for this week’s main post.

I’ll see you soon.