We visited family in Portland, Oregon, so we decided to also go for a weekend to the coast. After spending the day hiking and visiting the famed Haystack Rock, we headed back to our Airbnb on Arch Cape. I took my tripod, my GFX100RF, plus a healthy sense of adventure and wonder, and headed to the beach to see what I could find.
The Pacific Northwest coastline is a fascinating place to wander; my head was spinning with possibilities for sunset. When I came across this field of stones on the beach, I knew that it contained a ton of potential for compositions.
I wanted the larger rock as a sort of springboard for the eye to the sun, while acting as an anchor for the viewer to come back to while looking at different aspects of the image. To emphasize the connection between foreground and background, the sun needed to break the horizon so there was not just light but a shape in the distance, bringing the juxtaposition of light and dark to life.
The pools of water around the smaller stones also added an almost alien or otherworldly feel to the overall image. Placed on a slight diagonal, they seem to bring a sense of movement for the viewer.
