Where Sea Meets Land

Bandon Beach, on the Oregon Coast, is one of the most surreal locations that I have ever been to. The sea stacks give the landscape an appearance that can only be called unearthly. At low tide, channels of water wind their way through the rippled sand, and the sun setting over the Pacific often paints the sky with deep, saturated colors. Of all the places that I have visited to photograph, this is the one I most want to return to.
This particular image was used in Spokane International Airport as part of a Pacific Northwest travel ad.

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It seems as if almost any color can show up at a Pacific Coast sunset. On this particular evening it was pink and blue with distant mist and fog completing the scene. You could almost hear the call of the sirens!

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You know that feeling when you are on the beach looking down and the water from the prior wave starts receding back into the ocean? It is dizzying and you need to look at something stationary to retain your balance while feeling your feet sink into the sand. That’s the feeling I wanted to capture in this photograph.

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You might not be able to tell it was winter from the photograph, but, trust me, I sure knew it was when making this image at Bandon Beach after one of the very infrequent coastal snowstorms. The tide had washed the snow away but the wind was blowing and it was definitely cold! Does the blue in the photograph make you feel cold?

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If you live anywhere near Bandon, Oregon, you know where Elephant Rock is. There are only a few days a year when the setting sun is centered right in the opening of the rock. It’s a special treat to see, particularly if the sky is clear and you can make out the whole orb of the sun.

Some say the opening looks like the shape of George Washington. Can you see the president?

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When I first started photographing in this location, the tide had not yet come in. But when it did it seemed to do so rapidly. Though the water was not yet very deep at this point, it did impart a feeling of danger with how quickly it was rising. I wanted to impart that feeling by getting the camera down low to elicit the feeling of being engulfed.

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Sunsets on the Oregon Coast can often feel quite surreal. This was definitely one of those nights. I wanted to transmit that feeling with a long, two minute exposure, thus smoothing out the water and bringing out its deep blue color.

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The sound of the ocean waves is constant, even mesmerizing. There is the smell of salt in the air. If you close your eyes and listen it’s easy to slip into a meditative state. I wanted to capture all those sounds and feelings in a photograph.

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While walking along the beach, I saw the reflection of the sky in the wet sand. As I continued to walk the reflection only got stronger. I guess I was walking at the correct angle for that to happen. Looking straight ahead it gave a feeling of not knowing what was up and what was down. A feeling that the universe was infinite and direction didn’t matter.

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The tide was low, the sun was setting, and the sound of the waves was comforting. The warm colors of the sky were reflected and distorted by the ripples in the sand as the tide went out. Can you feel the day coming to an end?

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Walking along the beach at low tide with the sun setting I noticed a heart shape in the sand at the right of the photo. Do you see it as well? Hence the title, The Heart Of Sunset.

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The fog was so thick on Bandon Beach this particular evening that I had to leave early for fear of not being able to find my way back. This particular sea stack was my ‘bread crumb’ marker to find my way. It stood majestically visible through the fog.

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Morning Light from behind me painted these sea stacks with warm yellow tones, nicely contrasted against the blue seawater. It gave a peaceful feeling to the start of a new day.

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