Seizing the moment: Sunsets, silhouettes, and memories

Heading to the beach to watch the sunset is a routine occurrence when you live in the Southern California area.  Just because watching the sunset at the beach may seem routine, every sunset is different and sometimes nature surprises you with something more perfect and beautiful than you could've imagined at the moment.

This just happened to be the case a few nights ago...

This past Sunday my family (wife, son, and in-laws) headed to Coronado, California to watch the sunset and get dinner.  One of the things we love about Coronado is the homey feel of the area and the beaches.  Unlike other beach areas in San Diego, you have to walk a fair bit over the sand after parking to get down to the water's edge - in that regard it's very similar to the beaches in Virginia Beach and makes it feel little more like home.  With low tide and the sun setting we were ready for a pleasurable evening of wondering the beach, playing in the sand, and watching the sunset.

Getting down to the water, the kiddo wasted no time dumping his sand toys and playing in the sand with my father-in-law.  My wife and mother-in-law headed for a walk on the beach looking for shells and sand dollars, leaving me to take some photos.

From our location, the sun was setting over Point Loma, the clouds were lighting up with beautiful orange glows, and the sun was reflecting and glinting off of the wet and rocky sand of low tide.  It was absolutely beautiful!

As the sun dropped below the Point Loma skyline and the kiddo was playing in the wet sand near the water's edge, I noticed something spectacular...

His Silhouette and Reflection

It was amazing! The darkening sky, the waning light from the sun being cast into the clouds, and the wet sand had created this beautiful and amazing scene right in front of me!  And I couldn't let it pass me by!  I felt compelled to capture and create some photographs of this scene, and I knew I didn't have much time to do it. 

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For the photographers...
I shot these photos with my Canon 5D Mk III and a 50mm f1.4 lens with a 4x neutral density filter and circular polarizer.  Minor post processing was done in Adobe Lightroom; however, I could have been just as happy with the SOOC images.  

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In life, like in photography, how many times do we see an opportunity and not take advantage of it?

Part of growing as a photographer and creative is recognizing these special moments and their fleeting beauty.  Part of being a parent is recognizing the little things that are unique, special, and important in our kids lives.  In this case, I was lucky enough to have recognized natures fleeting beautiful moment, and I was able to capture my son's joy and exuberance as he played in the sand in that moment.