It is approximately 5:00 am in the middle of June, and I am on the beach in Bandon, Oregon, taking advantage of this particularly low morning tide a day after the full moon. It is just the beginning of Civil twilight, the bluest part of the morning, with about a half hour to work before the sun comes up and about an hour before the almost full moon sets.

I am at one of my favorite parts of the beach, a little north of Gravel Point (where Face Rock Park is) and I have chosen this spot to capture the unique colors of the foreground rock with Face Rock in the distance to the right. The full moon is off to the left, along with the northern edge of the Gravel Point Sea Stack. I chose this particular angle with the nice diagonal line traveling from the foreground rock to Face Rock in the distance.

This particular low tide was the lowest tide of the year for Bandon at negative 2 ½ feet. After this spot, I would have an opportunity to capture images of other sea stacks Bandon is noted for and images of the locals out clam digging along the surf.

For those unfamiliar with the tidal swings of the Oregon Coast, the lowest tides occur during the summer months when the moon is farthest away from the earth, along with the predominance of high-pressure systems. The reverse is true for high tides. The highest tides, or those locally called King tides, occur in January and February, the highest being a little over 9 feet. For example, this year's highest tides were on Jan 14 at 9.3 ft and Feb 7 at 9.1. The lowest tides are projected to be on Jun 6, Jun 23 and Jul 23