I recently returned from a vacation to the Destin, Florida which holds a special place in my heart. For those coastal lovers who have grown up going year after year to some particular beach, you know the magic such destinations hold. There is of course, natural beauty. But there are lots of places in the world that have that and probably more. For me, it’s that plus the sense of connection, the memories and experiences, and the changes that the passage of time yields which together make this special place one of my favorites on earth.
Shortly after returning, we had a brief scare where we almost lost a hard drive with about 10 years of family pictures. Many of these were from our many years of Destin beach vacations. I’m pleased to say that we were able to recover them all, however the prospect of losing these and so many other precious memories (I never thought I’d use that term!) was momentarily overwhelming and makes my thoughts about the photos below that much more intimate. By the way folks, back your stuff up a couple times!
The dunes along Holiday Isle are being restored. Walking along the beach, I observe the freshly planted mounds with new walkways built over the barriers, connecting the brightly colored beach houses with the emerald surf. On my first walk, I didn’t have a camera or phone with me. On that particular morning, the sky was a sea of blue without a cloud to be seen. I was struck by the contrast not only of the green oats, gold wooden structures and blue sky, but the clean structured lines of a planned restoration on a beautiful natural environment. In this place, natural forces had all but taken this beach yet human intervention is replacing it. I can’t help but think there’s something profound in it. While this day’s clouds took a little away from the starkness of the original scene, it still has a stark and, considering the storms that have ravaged the point over the past decade, an almost stoic quality.
On this particular evening, we were walking on the beach after dinner. The sun had long since gone down. I had my tripod and was trying to capture some images of the stars streaking the sky when we were distracted by the scene to the east. A few miles away, probably around the Back Porch restaurant, someone was releasing glowing lights that are rising into the night sky like balloons and floating out over the ocean. We watched for over 30 minutes while the lights gradually ascended and faded an I was glad to have a camera on hand. The lightening-like streaks we captured look like eerie fingers stretching out over the ocean etching themselves unnaturally on the photograph. This was one of those rare situations where something interesting was happening and I actually had a camera with me!
On another evening, we took a walk out to the harbor-side point at the East Pass, which is something that I’ve never done in all the years of coming down to Destin. Every year we take some time to wander along the docks among the fishing boats and rental pontoons. I’ve always looked across the harbor to the beach on the other side, really not a long walk from where we stay, and think about wandering out there. And it seems every year we get too busy doing other things and never take the time. This evening, however, we wandered through the dunes at what I believe is called Norriego Point and in addition to catching a stunning sunset over Destin-to-Ft. Walton Beach bridge, we got a perfect view of the glowing party across the harbor at the Emerald Grand.
The ghostly figure walking in the surf was actually two of our children. I also picked up a boat slowly passing under the bridge. I had a couple other pictures that were a little more “clean” but that didn’t pick up the fiery sky beyond.
Richard is silhouetted atop one of the dunes contemplating the sunset and view beyond.
Even in October the Harborwalk Village is hopping. David said, “Dad, that looks like a pro picture.” It’s nice when one of your own kids thinks you do something cool.
The captivating thing to me about this shot is the reflections of the fishing boats on the water. I never noticed this when I was setting up for the shot. That’s one of the things about night photography that I love. So many times I’ve captured nuance that I never saw but that an open shutter was able to pick up as a result of the light.
My infatuation with the Ft. Walton Beach bridge continues with this shot as I was able to capture the very last vestige of light as the sun completely sank below the horizon.
What this picture doesn’t show is the host of fishermen and scavengers that were lining the point with flashlights, casting nets and fishing poles. I couldn’t quite decide which I wanted more, to capture some awesome photographs or something worth eating out of the water!
I had plenty of “standard fare” beach pictures that if you’re interested in you can see here. I’d love to hear your comments and as always, these are available for use under the creative commons’ attribution-noderivs license.