My August 2018 Photo of the Month is WND1, made at Windansea Beach in San Diego.
WND1 Background
With parenting, busy season at the office, and the fickle nature of monsoonal moisture, I did not make as many images as I would have liked in August. I spend a good deal of my time in the Laguna Mountains, but I wanted to return to the beach. On this outing, I met up with my good friend Lee Sie to photograph at Windansea Beach.
Although Windansea can be crowded, it is a long beach and you can find small areas and reef rocks to compose an unlimited number of photographs. This was taken about a quarter mile south of the Hut. Although it wasn’t a high tide, the surf was coming in fast. I was standing on one rock composing another. I didn’t want to get stuck, so I only took a few images from this point.
This photograph is another composition splitting the horizon in two. This “rule” in photography drives me crazy. People will instinctively write off an image for this, yet I say time and again that what you are looking for in an image is balance. the foreground rock leads you eye into the image and up to the sun rays. This image has balance, and if you can achieve that in a composition, you shouldn’t need to worry about the horizon so much.
WND and Not Windansea?
I have recently decided to simplify my images names. One can title something like Majestic Rock before it starts to lose power or meaning. Calling this photograph Windansea Wonder or something, but it always feels forced. I am just going to use simple descriptive names, and add a number. Simple, not pretentious, and I might remember what you are referring to if you mention WND1.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the image.
Further Viewing
Photos of the Month Portfolio Gallery
T.M. Schultze is a San Diego-based photographer, traveller, and writer. He writes, photographs, and draws things of the outdoors that have inspired humans for thousands of years. He co-authored the Photographer’s Guide to Joshua Tree Park which can be purchased here.