Images of Point Reyes National Seashore – Northeastern California, taken in August 2018.

When I visited Point Reyes National Seashore last year it was on a beautiful spring day; sun lighting up the flower covered hills as they tilted toward the blue Pacific Ocean, scores of Elephant Seals barking their contentment as they basked in the sun on the beach in Drakes Bay.

This year couldn’t have been more different! Fog rolled in off of the Pacific Ocean propelled by a brisk wind; the Elephant Seals numbered less than 10 and where now outnumbered by thousands of birds staking their claim on the beach in Drakes Bay. Trees were silhouetted by the fog and the ocean looked almost steely gray. The sun, when it was even visible, was but a semi-bright disk through the fog. If I hadn’t seen this place last year I would have been incredibly disappointed; but having already photographed this park in all its glory I found the gloomy conditions to be an opportunity to shoot something different. Gloom can be interesting too!