She suggested we visit Hearst Castle, as she'd never seen it. I, on the other hand, toured it with my parents in 1975; the estate's grandeur and scale left quite an impression on me so Julianna's notion was an easy sell!
Thanks to California's budget crisis I happened to have had a forced day off on Friday, so we set out around noon and began our journey with a leisurely drive south down coastal Highway 1, with simply perfect weather conditions to bless our journey. We enjoyed a fine lunch at a stop in Big Sur, and managed to arrive at our final destination, a B&B in Cambria, a bit after 6pm. After checking in and relaxing a bit we ambled a few blocks down the street for what was a sumptuous dinner (at Linn's . . . excellent!).
We took in Hearst Castle at 11.00 a.m. on Saturday, then spent the afternoon enjoying the shops in Cambria, playing cribbage, taking a nap and visiting a beach before another superb dining experience (this time at Robin's).
Much later in the evening, after my love fell asleep, I set out with camera, tripod and remote-control gear for Moonstone Beach, a drive of about, oh, five minutes or so. The temperature was just cool enough to keep me alert; overhead the full moon shone incredibly bright through the clear night air. My goal was to take some lengthy time exposures of surf crashing against the rocks and bluffs below a vantage point I reconnoitered during our late afternoon beach walk.
As it turned out my equipment proved defiant and difficult: despite considerable, determined and persistent effort I could not solve a problem with my remote control timing device, which ultimately prevented me from producing exposure times of up to 20 minutes, as I'd planned to do. Under spectacular conditions of simply exquisite weather and gorgeous lighting, I struggled with the interplay of technology frustrations and the sheer enjoyment of being utterly alone above a splendid ocean scene. In the end I came away with seven significantly underexposed images (compared to what I'd planned for, at least), and the consolation of knowing that the Pacific Ocean is not likely to evaporate any time soon . . . thus I'll have future opportunities to capture more such images with properly working equipment.
Even so, I've managed to coax a surprisingly acceptable result from one of the last photographs I recorded, a 2 minute, 51 second exposure taken at 1:26 a.m., which I present for your enjoyment and consideration:
Pacific Coast by Full Moon, Cambria, California, #4668
(c)2009 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: September 6, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 171 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 200; 33mm.
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