While exploring Kona’s Hapuna Beach in 2019, I was looking for a scene that really inspired me. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the beach, and found this spot where it transitioned back to natural rock and trees, that I found what I was looking for. I loved the meeting of sand, rock, trees, ocean, and sky with the moon setting on the horizon. And yet I have also long struggled with this photo and feeling like it was not ready for sharing.

I had a very productive photography trip to California in 2018 where one evening on the beach yielded three amazing photos. I posted two of these in the past – Sunset and Twilight – and now here’s the third: Waves. This photo was shot roughly 23 minutes later than Sunset and about 12 minutes earlier than Twilight. The light had not quite dimmed as much as it had for the later photo, so I was able to capture the waves in motion rather than as a long-exposure blur.

This photo is a companion to a previous photo of a Venice Beach sunset I took in 2019. Both photos show Venice’s iconic lifeguard stations on the same evening, although I took this one of a different hut later towards twilight.

Last year on a trip to Hawaii, I took a nice morning walk along a trail between Hapuna and Kaunaoa beaches. I was looking for sunrise light, but I slightly overslept and just missed blue hour, getting golden hour instead. The bright sun was already harsh, and there wasn’t a lot of morning color in the sky on the western coast of the Big Island. But after walking for a bit, I discovered this wonderful view of trees, water, ocean, and clouds from a vantage point above the Pacific. I loved the orientation of the trees and how the light and shadows fell between the trail, the inlet, and the trees themselves.

When Gwen and I visited Carmel-by-the-Sea in 2018, I took advantage of California’s geography and beaches to take photos of the sunset. The last time I posted a photo from this trip, it was from right before the sun had set below the horizon. This photo is from well after sunset – about 35 minutes later than the earlier photo. This was well into “blue hour” territory, and one could argue the light was closer to dark than blue. But from the very last drop of light in the sky, I was able to compose and shoot this piece of driftwood on the beach.