532 - Montara Beach
Today I saw a poltergeist.
And fun fact, the term “poltergeist” is of Germanic origin. “Polter'' means “to make sounds” and “geist” means “ghost.”
However, that word wasn’t my first choice for the opening sentence. I much prefer “apparition,” which is of Latin origin, meaning “to appear.” Apparition rolls off the tongue oh so smoothly, and has a clean, modern undertone.
“Poltergeist,” on the other hand, is the complete opposite. It’s loud. It’s obnoxious. It’s a rambunctious ghost you’d find in a New England cabin, not a New York loft. Thus, when I say that I saw a “poltergeist” on this lovely Tuesday afternoon, what I mean to say is that I saw a ghost on a windy, deafening shoreline off the coast of Pacifica, California.
The location was Montara Beach, an oceanfront known for its yearly Sea Fig bloom. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Fig Newtons grow on the beach? Yes. Yes they do. And they’re in the form of pink flowers.
This supposed explosion of pink flora was apparently so outrageous that even Victoria’s Secret was known to get jealous. So naturally, I had to add it to my bucket list.
And, to mark the occasion, I figured I’d bring someone new to shoot with. I was slowly building a regime of photography friends on the West Coast, and we were poised to take over the scene within 1.5 years.
I met this particular photographer on California Street the other day, and he told me he was having a hard time finding photography friends. So, like the warm-hearted gentleman I am, I checked his Instagram to make sure he wasn’t just some buffoon with a $3,000 camera.
And besides an absolutely wretched photo of a sea urchin, he passed the test. On average, I’d say his work was slightly above average.
We agreed to meet at the beach two hours before sunset, to scope out the area and presumably talk shop. When you hang with another photographer for the first time, it’s much like catching up with a best friend you haven’t seen in years.
Needless to say, I was excited. I even showed up an hour early to pre-scope the scope. Yeah, I’m a fucking nerd. You don’t need to remind me.
And then the time arrived. I walked back to my car and waited in the parking lot. 15 minutes went by. I shot out a text. No reply. 30 minutes went by. Nothing. I decided to start warming up on the beach. I wasn’t about to spend this whole adventure baking like an egg on asphalt.
60 minutes went by as I perused those windy sands. Nada.
Did I really just get ghosted by a guy with no friends? Ouch. Maybe the universe decided I needed some humbling.
Well. There’s worse places to get poltergiested than on a beautiful beach with a massive flower bloom. It was time to find those pink sons of bitches.
By this point, the sunset was starting to wash in. Clouds were coming in hot, and it had the potential to go supernova if the light hit right. I had a general idea of where the flowers were supposed to be, but I couldn’t exactly tell for sure. I had to climb this wack cliff first.
And after about 10 minutes of maneuvering, I managed to climb up its dusty, semi-alarming face.
I stumbled out onto the hill and took in the scene. It was supposed to be a massive carpet of flowers. But what I saw was merely an entrance mat. A tiny, 2 foot patch of barely bloomed delicacies. I was early in the season.
Well fuck me with a fiddle and call me Nancy. Today’s luck was off the charts.
I sighed into the wind. I glared into the sunset and it burnt my eyes. Hard. Well, that was the one thing I had on my side. The clouds were shaping up to be a beautiful scene. But I had no subject.
My phone buzzed. “I’m sorry I can’t make it, man. Text me next time you go out.”
I silently put my phone away. I looked back at the shapeshifting clouds and took in a deep breath. It was time to go ape.
I dropped my camera bag, clicked on my wide angle lens, and started surveying the ground like some kind of botanical hitman. A flower was going to get shot today if my life depended on it.
Luckily for me, Sea Figs weren’t the only fowl in town. Seaside Daisies were also popping up here and there, although in much fewer numbers. I realized they might be my best option- I just needed to find some that looked photogenic enough to shoot.
See, the thing was their home was a windy seaside cliff, so they weren’t exactly getting their best from Momma Nature. And time was ticking. Fast.
I ran around like turkey on Thanksgiving, shooting anything even remotely colorful.
And then I saw it, across the cliffside. My eyes were drawn to these babies like a hot girl walking into a bar. Three daisies of a kind. Perfectly bloomed. Ready to pop. I lined up my scope and took the shot:
“Interbloom”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8
[ISO 500 ~ 17mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/3200s] [Focus Stack]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
Or should I say, shots. That’s a focus stack of four images and a sky exposure blend (you can learn how to do this madness in Explorer University). Admittedly, not perfect because of the wind and the fact that I was using my backpack to balance my camera because my actual tripod wouldn’t go that low. But who cares. Redemption was in the air.
And shout out the dude with no friends. I couldn’t have done it without you.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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