Victoria Beach - Salt Water Ledge

This photo is not insanely outrageous but has a lesson for all of us.

Towards the late afternoon last summer, I wanted to take photos of the LaTour Tower at Victoria Beach in Laguna Beach ( a photo blog will come soon of that ). So with camera in hand and loaded with the will to get a great shot no matter how long I had to wait for it, I trodded off to the location. It is a fairly popular spot for wedding photographers wanting a picturesque locale for their shoots. That afternoon, there were not many there, in fact only one photographer and newlywed couple had come and gone, leaving the beach to myself. Now, while this stretch of sand can be fairly popular at times, not too many people really know about it, especially tourists. That's a good thing, at least for locals, which I now consider myself. What nerve, huh !

Anyway, I took my photos and was rather disappointed in the color rendition produced that particular evening by the setting sun. I packed up my gear and started to head back up the beach. Just a slight way back up the beach, I saw this scene which, at least to me, made my trip worthwhile. Keep in mind at the beach especially in southern California, the beach is never the same from day to day. With the tide coming and going and swells rising and receding, the sand is constantly shifting, never the same.

The sand, it just so happened on this afternoon, had receded significantly enough that it exposed this rock ledge with dripping salt water draining from the tidepools above. This scene had been behind my back all along but I never noticed it. I had not even seen this ledge on my way down to the beach to shoot the Tower, totally blew right past it. But there it was. Nothing spectacular, but for me, just subtle and soothing enough to warrant my effort to take its portrait.

Lesson learned: look around you. . . all around you. When you expect the obvious, the unexpected may appear.