Shark Fin Cove: Santa Cruz County

Shark Fin Cove in Davenport, CA, a photo I have wanted to get for a long time. I came here with my wife quite a number of years ago, long before I got into photography, and I have wanted to go back and get a photo ever since I picked up a camera. I hadn't had a beach photo in a while, and I had people asking me for them, so I felt like it was time to get the one I have wanted for years. I had been monitoring the forecast for a couple weeks, and the day finally came when I could make the drive out and the conditions seemed good.  It was a three hour drive from my house, and I had read that this location could get crowded, so I wanted to make sure I got there early enough to claim the best view. I didn't want to take any chances driving all that way and not getting the best I could find. I ended up getting there two hours early, I thought about meandering around on the beach for a while, but decided I would just find my spot and wait.   I found one that gave me the kind of framing I was hoping for, set up my tripod and my camera and I waited. I had no cell service, so I had to spend the next two hours just with my thoughts and the soothing sights and sounds of the ocean as I waited for the sun to set.  As the sun was going down, it seemed like I was going to get a magnificent sky. I started to get a little color, but waited for the real explosion. I got a little more color, but the big explosion I was hoping for never came. As soon as it was almost dark and the sky became a dim trickle of light, I packed up my gear and drove home. I left there not sure if I got enough color, and wondered if I would have to go back.  When I got home to look at the photos, the sunset fit the scene nicely. It wasn't the fiery explosion I was hoping for, but it was just the right amount of color to compliment everything around it and give that relaxing, calming feeling that every good ocean photo brings. After many years, I had finally gotten my shot of the legendary Shark Fin.