Bean Hollow Shoot
Josh Harmon
Sunset over Tidepool. Nagaoka 4x5, Fujinon 125mm f/5.6, Ilford FP4+ 125
A tradition I've had for the past few years is visiting the coast during the winter holiday season. In high school and college we would go down to Santa Cruz and enjoy an afternoon around town and at the boardwalk. Then instead of driving through the mountains home we would drive up highway one. It was this drive which I always looked forward to. It would be late afternoon as we drove up and eventually we would pull over at a random pull out to scurry down to the water for sunset. More often than not that sunset would be spectacular.
Continuing in a similar fashion I made a solo venture to the coast last weekend. I was in need of a good Josh excursion, plus my cameras needed a little love. It had been too long since I've spent a day focussed on shooting.
Surf breaking over tidepools. Nagaoka 4x5, Fujinon 125mm f/5.6, Ilford Delta 100
I ended up at Bean Hollow State Beach which has become my favorite spot of late. This beach is quite unique along the coast due to the flavor of sandstone and geological "pot-holing" or pitting. Basically the tide pools and surrounding area have these inch wide and deep holes carved out over centuries by pebbles that get stuck and knocked around by the surf. What is left behind is a some absolutely fantastic textures and details. Smooth sandstone rolls up to stark and alien cobwebs of rock.
I arrived early afternoon and spent an hour scouting around all my shots. I had brought the large 4x5 with some sheets of Ilford FP4 and Delta 100 loaded up. After the scout mission I enjoyed reading a book while the light got better (and it rained too). I then geared up and made the rounds again, but with camera in tow.
Stone Cobweb and Pebbles. Nagaoka 4x5, Fujinon 125mm f/5.6, Ilford FP4+ 125
Bean Hollowed Sandstone Detail. Nagaoka 4x5, Fujinon 125mm f/5.6, Ilford Delta 100
I still can't get over how interesting the rock is here. To my eye I saw countless different images I could take. Yet once I set up for an image I had the hardest time composing a shot! Regardless after seeing the processed sheets I am quite happy how they turned out.
I also shot a roll of Ektar 100 through my bit Pentax 6x7 as the sun dipped away and the colors were pretty but I have yet to have that roll processed. If the iPhone shots I took are any decent preview then the color shots will be sublime.
Y Iron Stained Sandstone. Nagaoka 4x5, Fujinon 125mm f/5.6, Ilford Delta 100