Irish Beach: The Photograph That Almost Wasn't
This is a story of an award-winning photograph that almost wasn’t. It is a cautionary tale about throwing away images you don’t think are worthy.
For those not familiar with California, there is a section of its coastline that is not densely populated, has some of the most picturesque scenery in the state, and the best way to get there is to drive through towering redwood trees. I’m talking about the Mendocino coast.
Mendocino is a small town that sits on the Pacific Ocean, but most people call the region around it the “Mendocino coast.” Basically, it just refers to the Northern California coastline north of Marin County and Bodega Bay.
Suffice it to say, it’s not easy to get to. You either drive up Highway 1, which is winding AF and takes twice as long, or you take Highway 101 and cut over through the redwoods. The choice seems obvious, but from where we live in Sacramento, you have to travel south to pick up 101 and then travel north. This is all just to say, we love Mendocino, but don’t go very often because of the drive.
On this particular trip, it was our wedding anniversary, so we splurged a little and got a place overlooking the ocean. The biggest benefit, besides the view, was access to the road that leads to Irish Beach below. It’s a sandy beach about a half-mile or so long and is at the bottom of a steep hill.
After picking up lunch one afternoon, my wife and I decided to drive down to the beach and eat our meal sitting next to the ocean. Once we finished eating, I grabbed my Leica M10 Monochrom camera and we went for a stroll.
The marine layer had abated somewhat for the afternoon, but it started to come back while on our walk. As a beach stroller, that wasn’t ideal. As a photographer, it was perfect.
In the distance was a rock pyramid sitting amongst the waves. With the fog layer behind it, I knew the rock would make a great silhouette against the lighter sky. That took care of the background. But what was I going to shoot in the foreground?
A large boulder sat on the beach with nothing around it except sand. I figured that was a good subject and I bent down and took a few snaps and then checked the back of the camera to see how it looked. Blah!
As I studied the photographs, the surf broke around the rock. Bingo! So I backed up, waited for the next surge of water to flow across the sand, and fired off several shots. Upon review, the photographs were more interesting, but they still didn’t quite fit into what I was looking for.
Dejected, we walked further down the beach and as we got closer to the cliff bordering the southern end of the beach, I bent down once more and took some more shots as the water flowed over the sand. I had the exposure compensation set to -0.1 so the pictures looked quite dark in-camera, but I was liking how the white foam looked against the black sand (the sand was “normal” sand color, but because of my settings, it looked black in-camera).
We walked back up the beach with me furiously taking pictures, until we ended up back at the car. At that moment, I felt let down. I knew the setting was perfect but I didn’t think I captured anything worthy.
After we returned home, I sat down at my computer and uploaded the images. After doing a quick run-through, I felt a little better. I picked out a few photographs and started messing around with them. I was loving the dark tones of the sand and the cliff and rocks against the white formless sky. I also increased the whiteness of the foam of the surf to further contrast it against the black sand. Bingo! I had my shot.
Or so I thought. The photograph below was the one I began posting and spreading around on social media. It was well received and I was happy with it. That was that.
Fast forward eighteen or so months later. As is my practice, when I don’t have anything new to process, I will go back and look at older material and see if something I passed over catches my eye. This is vital as a photographer. Your tastes will change. Your knowledge will increase. Images you didn’t give credence to will suddenly jump out at you.
When I saw the photograph that is now known as “Irish Beach,” I was flabbergasted. How the f**k did I pass it up before? After I processed it, I sat back and just stared at the enlarged version on my screen. I was blown away. How could something like that sit unnoticed in my computer for so long?
“Irish Beach” has since gone on to be shown in a few galleries (sold in auction at one), and placed in several competitions. While this is good for stroking my ego, in the end, it doesn’t really mean anything. The most important aspect of this story is the cautionary tale to not delete your “non-keepers” just to save hard drive space. You never know what diamonds in the rough you may find down the road.
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