Blog Author Richard Newman

Yesterday I took a drive that I haven’t made in almost 5 years. I used to make the same drive from Monterey to San Francisco almost every week. Yesterday was different. First of all, it’s spring on the coast, and everything is in bloom from an atmospheric river of rain that came through the area about 10 days ago. The fields are yellow and purple, the sky hazy blue and, for a Wednesday, no traffic at all. It’s about an hour and 15-minute drive between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, and it’s a very fertile and potent photographic stomping grounds.

I’ve made a lot of pictures here over the years. I set the car at 55 (the speed limit) and let my mind revisit my experiences on this wonderful stretch of road. I remembered getting up an hour before dawn to catch the morning light, and staying until long after dark, soaking wet from being hit by so many waves, waiting for the light to explode with the setting sun.

I remembered being here with a friend who has left us, the laughs and the feeling of satisfaction on the long drive home with our film holders full of T-Max and Tri-X containing images that we had captured. I passed all of the familiar haunts: the Caves at Davenport, the crazy rock formations at Pebble Beach (not the golf course) and Shark Fine Cove. If you want to see it, here's a map. 

I also noticed that the road and the beaches had changed. Five years of heavy rain and an ever-increasing tourist population will leave marks. I missed the driftwood shacks that used to carpet the beach on the north side. Now, they were on the south side of the Pescadaro Creek. Where we used to slide down on our backsides and then scramble and dig to get back up the cliff, now there are stairs and handrails. But the ocean remains the same. 

When I came home, I went and looked at some of the work that I made along that coast.  And upon revisiting it, I felt that same satisfaction as when I created it. I also knew that the information, knowledge and emotion that I gained yesterday on my revisit will be put to use the next time I travel up there. And, I also know it won’t be 5 years!


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