If you live in San Francisco, you are often reminded of the gift that is Ocean Beach. It is one of my favorite places for a walk, where I contemplate and sometimes I take photographs.
On one of my many visits to Ocean Beach, I came across an enormous swarm of Snowy Plovers who were busy enjoying breakfast. A portion of Ocean Beach is designated as a Snowy Plover Protection Area. Snowy Plover is a small bird that needs vast swaths of open beaches to feed on kelp flies. They have been severely under threat for a while, but their numbers have recently rebounded.
I just loved the way the swarm of cute little critters looked. I had a 24-90 lens attached to my Leica SL, and I was far enough away to use the 90mm focal length to capture this photograph. Since it was very early in the morning, I captured this image with the lens wide-open at f4 and 1/160th of a second at ISO 50.
This image has sat in my “to edit” folder since December 2019. In a moment of inspiration, I decided to go “monochrome” and keep the high-key look of the original color negative. The lack of color allowed me to obscure the waves and the distant Marin headlands into subtle outlines.
I like the final result enough to share with you, and I hope you like it as much as I do.
Happy Weekend!
February 11, 2023. San Francisco