“It’s a strange thing, that an ending brings such joy. Sunsets draw people to the waters edge. It’s almost a time of reverence. Such beauty, different every day, and the calmness that ensues as light fades and bathes the worth in gold.” – Ed Lehming

I have to say, my visit to Moonstone Beach last month was an absolute pleasure. I have not been spending nearly enough time outdoors with my camera and being able to spend time in such a beautiful place was so refreshing.

I’m not sure we we often fall away from the things we love to do. For me, it was several factors, primary among those factors, I think, was selling our home of 30 years and moving to a new house we had purchased nearly four years ago. It simply took up a lot of time maintaining two properties coupled with the 2 hour drive back and forth.

I’ve been more deliberate about getting outdoors and making photos but the passion and pleasure of it, as well as writing about had waned a bit. Being in these beautiful places and being able to document them has re-inspired me, and I’m hoping to continue with this.

So back to my quote; I see this ending of the day as a beginning for me. Of all the photos I made during this recent trip, this one really brought thing back to life for me. It was a bit of a challenging shot for me, as I’ve been getting lazy with my iPhone that seems to make amazing photos all the time with it’s great dynamic range and Ai assisted processing. It’s hard to get a bad shot. But, It is also limiting in my ability to compose shots and managed depth of field and lighting that way I would want. An yes, I do have some control, over this, but not as much as I would like. On this trip, I took all my Nikon gear with me and was determined to get back to basics.

I spent most of the day walking the beach and photographing the waves crashing in and the local flora. I may still share these shots, but they are of more of a self-satisfying nature. At the end of the day, I made sure to be ready for the sunset, all my high end gear set up and at the ready. As the moment apprached, I took several shots with my Nikon and then a few with my iPhone. The iPhone won hands down on this shot with wide dynamic range, but the Nikon had far better clarity overall. However, to get an image that was representative of what I saw and how I saw it, is still requiring quite a bit of editing and It’s still not what I was hoping for. So, here’s the iPhone image.

I would be interested in hearing from my fellow photographers if this technology contrast is something you are experiencing as well. Rest assured, I’m not hanging up the DSLR any time soon!

iPhone 14 Pro Max back triple camera 24 mm
1/1212 sec, f/1.78, ISO 80