TECHNICAL DETAILS
Leica D-Lux typ 109. 1/8 sec at f/8 ISO 200. 24mm effective focal length.
PATH TO THE PT. REYES LIGHT
On this trip through the western part of the US, driving my sister’s camper from Montana back to her house in Marin County, California, I got to pass through a few photographic ‘meccas’ — locations where the titans of American photography worked: Adams, Weston, Curtis, and others. This makes it both inspiring and sobering territory for making images. It’s pretty tough to think you could produce anything impactful from a vista so explored by the immortals of the medium.
If you look at the opportunity that way, you might as well pack up your camera bag and go home. You’re defeated before you start. One of the wonderful things about photography is that—barring images dramatically altered, composited, or otherwise not an actual capture—the moment you press the shutter release is yours and yours alone. Nobody else has the exact same vantage point and tools. You’ve captured something unique. So tread the hallowed ground with gusto. It doesn’t matter if your images aren’t printed for generations in compendiums of the greats. That’s not the point.
And so I set out for Point Reyes National Seashore, which my sister lives right next to. To say that the Marin coastline there is photogenic is, typically, an understatement. It’s breathtaking. Three of us drove the back roads of Pt. Reyes (not like there are any other roads there, really) and took in sights along the coast, the headlands, and stopped at the Pt. Reyes lighthouse. We were there quite early, and from the parking lot, it’s a fair walk up to the actual structures. The light from the ocean side of the path was filtering through heavy early morning haze from the thunderous surf pounding the beach below, like a salty fog. The wind-bent cypress trees lining the path formed a tunnel over the walkway, darkening and sheltering.
Seeing this dramatic light, I looked for how to compose an image, with the bend of the path echoing the bend in the trees. One little problem. The light was pretty low, and I had no tripod (doh!). Fortunately, there was a fence post conveniently located at the gate to the pathway, and I was able to rest the camera on it to compensate for the 1/8 second exposure. I knew this would be a nice scene, and wanted to keep ISO low, so consequently I was left with a long shutter speed. I needed some depth of field to ensure that the path and the far trees remained in focus. Without that fence post, I would have had a difficult time. Note to self: bring a tripod next time! That’s why I have a small folding portable one. The most worthless gear you have is the stuff you don’t have when you need it.
Balance, In Life and Photos