Best of The Beach (VOL 4)

Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time with a camera and a frame of film left.

Most of my hikes along the Sonoma Coast were day long affairs and by the time I returned to the trailhead, my roll had usually been shot up. There’s never much to photograph at most trailheads anyway; parking lot, port-a-potties, trash cans and cars.

On this Sunday however, I had one or two frames of Kodak Portra 400 left in my Pentax Spotmatic SP. I also had one of the most pedestrian of all Super Takumars mounted out front; the 55mm f/2. As I approached the parking lot, I saw a young couple standing close to each other on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. There was another person nearby, a woman with cameras. It appeared that she was preparing to take some photos of the couple. Maybe engagement or pre-wedding or something.

I could never be a good street photographer because I have such a hard time invading anyone’s space, no matter how far away I am, but they seemed oblivious to me. It would have been better to have a faster camera…the Spotmatic requires stop down metering…or autofocus. But everything came together yielding one of my favorites photos taken along the coast, lens flare and all.