JD-0267
Succulents (Powdery Dudleya) Blossoming at Sunset, Sonoma Coast, California
© 2005 Jerry Dodrill

Just North of Jenner a great arm of land juts out into the Pacific toward the western horizon. I had been photographing this point from spring into the summer, sure there was a fine image to be made here. One evening in late June I had a feeling something special was about to come together. I drove North with one eye on the road, the other watching the light, not knowing where I would stop. It was getting late so I stopped at this familiar place, gathered my gear and walked along the bluff. It's a dramatic drop if you slip here, but I often find magic right at the brink of disaster. I crawled down to the edge of the cliff and set up my camera. It was a difficult wide-angle picture using several filters to control contrast, and off camera fill-light to hold the foreground. When the twilight faded, I felt sure I had my picture. The next day I went back, hoping to find additional compositions, but a thick fog bank enshrouded the coast. When it finally broke several weeks later, the flowers had finished blooming and a similar scene no longer existed.