On Tuesday night this week I joined a group of photographers under the sponsorship of The Nocturnes for a visit to the Point Bonita Lighthouse at the end of the Marin Headlands along the California coast just outside San Francisco Bay. The excuse, as always with the Nocturnes, was to make photographs under a full moon.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
Not surprisingly to those who know the San Francisco area, it turned out to be quite foggy. And cold. And windy. Fortunately, I sort of enjoy “interesting” weather like that, and the walk across several footbridges to the lighthouse and back in dark and near dark conditions, with a strong wind blowing and the surf crashing below, was a special experience.
However, for me at least, the photographic results were less than stunning. I’ll post a few images here soon, but I came away feeling that I hadn’t really captured that “one image” that I try to take away from any project like this – several interesting ones, but nothing all that striking.
But that is OK. I think I’m learning to take a longer view when this happens. Each time I shoot a new subject like this, I learn something (sometimes several somethings) new about the subject itself, how to shoot in different conditions, and so forth. While all of that may not have resulted in any stunning photographs this time, I think the knowledge and experience will likely pay off in the future.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.