Every once in awhile, I became overly obsessed about capturing a certain scene.
Okay, "obsessed" may be putting it lightly.
This time, it was Scripps Pier (Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier) in San Diego, California. If you’re not familiar, it is one of the world's biggest piers that extends deep into the waves of the ocean water used to for boat launches and experiments.
I have seen countless images of it (just Google Scripps Pier) and knew I had to capture it myself if I was ever there.
The day finally came, and leading up to the venture, I studied every single image I could get my hands on. What was particularly interesting to me about Scripps Pier is that despite each image being taken in the same few-hundred square foot area, they could look so different.
Meaghan was on board with paying an extended visit with me to Scripps Pier. It was a bit of race, but we made it in plenty of time before the sun would plummet below the ocean horizon.
And off I raced as my family and kids slogged behind me on the beach.
It was just as I envisioned, but there was one minor issue.
I didn’t bring my megaphone to tell everyone to get out of my picture.
That would probably be rude.
There were other photographers like me trying to get in position to get a great shot, but when there are hundreds of people strolling on the beach, it makes it a
little
tricky.
Luckily there are ways around it, but in order to achieve what I was envisioning (few or no people in the shot), I would have to manually stitch many pictures together to form it. With changing light conditions by the minute, it added to the challenge. At that point I had to disregard the frustration and just start shooting.
I enjoyed the warmth of the sun to really brighten up the pier and the beach. By far, this was the most challenging shot since there were so many people around. I had to remove them while processing.
The sun slowly dipped to meet the horizon just below the clouds, leading to a perfect opportunity to catch the sun peeking out.
Of course by this time people casually passing underneath the pier was getting tiring. Me and my fellow photographers could share in this frustrating sentiment.
I’ve heard that right after sunset, people will clear out.
It was welcome words from the resident California photographer.
Thankfully, he was right. The light from the orb diminished completely, and people scattered the beach like mice. I decided to capture it.
I was able to place my focus on what I was after—the mesmerizing tunnel and how the ocean water was meddling with the footings.
I wanted to create a more impressionistic point of view of this unique scene.
Because of the strong graphic elements in the scene, I knew I was going to process a black and white monochromatic image, to push the color out of the way, and to take in this amazing compilation of textures and movements.
What I was not expecting was the exquisite blend of texture from the sand and sediment from the beach. It was so visually intriguing that my eyes were fighting between the foreground and the background…and this makes for a rare and intriguing picture opportunity. It was my mission to capture these amazing elements.
I had this ultimate vision. If I cannot see it, at least I can dream it.
I’ve taken pictures of many things before in my life, but this one surpassed my expectations unlike any scene before it. This is one of those situations when it doesn’t seem overly dramatic at the time of capture, but it comes to life during the processing and interpretation of the scene.
