The Storm Breaks at Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz

Early April was an incredibly rainy time here in Santa Cruz.  April 2nd was one of those days so rainy I didn’t even bother to check the conditions for sunset because of the steady downpour. Around 6:45 pm though, I heard something: Silence. All of a sudden it was too quiet! I looked outside and sure enough, the rain had stopped.  And what’s more, the clouds were breaking up and some glow was beginning.  So I really quickly threw my camera gear in my bag, hopped in the car, and jetted down to Natural Bridges, arriving just as the setting sun threw some lovely pastel colors out onto the tail end of the storm clouds.

So far since moving to Santa Cruz I’ve been avoiding Natural Bridges simply because it is such a highly-photographed beach.  But lately I’ve been wanting to add a Natural Bridges shot to my portfolio and this night ended up being a perfect opportunity since NB is the beach closest to my house and I didn’t have time to get anywhere else.  When I got down to the beach, I found a mid-level tide which kept me pretty far from the classic arch.  But that ended up being just fine since backing way off was the only way I could get the arch and the sky color in the same shot.  I loved the way the arch looked against the long exposure waves and I think I might have an infatuation brewing with that.  Now I just need another night with a nice sunset and a bit of a lower tide.  Can’t wait!

~Josh

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