After sunrise, I found myself on a stretch of sand, surrounded by vague shapes and the sound of incoming waves. When warmer air moves east and collides with the colder Pacific upwelling from the shelf, it creates a mist that hangs along the coast. This is beneficial for the coastal rainforest, but it can pose challenges for photography.
Like many things, clarity is something we often pursue. Climbing to a vantage point on a hillside filled with scrub pine and manzanita, I gazed down through orderly stands of lupine toward a hazy beach that stretches north to Cape Sebastian.
Beyond the weathered sea stacks and islands, the landscape may not appear as imposing as it truly is. The Oregon Coast Trail runs through this area, though the softness of the scene belies the ruggedness of the path and the harshness of the coastal environment. Often, a rough exterior conceals the tenderness beneath. I took some time to observe before I started taking photos: clarity comes from a series of reconsiderations.
