I am so grateful to live near the beach. Living so close to it, I know I have taken it for granted at times. But as a photographer, I cherish the variety of visual subjects I can explore at our local beaches. Below are some of the beautiful treasures I discovered this year wandering the nearby shores. I hope you enjoy.
Sea Anemone
I love exploring tide pools. You never know what you might discover. This particular anemone I stumbled across amongst some of the most jagged crags at the beach. It was in such a tight spot that I couldn’t squeeze my tripod in to take the picture. So I had to crank up my camera’s ISO, crouched down, and precariously straddled the crags on either side of it and try to hold really still while I took the shot. I was so thankful that Adobe’s noise reduction tools were able to clean up all the noise from the high ISO.
This image is also the January image of my 2026 Photo Calendar, which you can purchase here.
Seaweed at Golden Hour
Last light of the day on this crop of washed-up seaweed made it really glow. Literally 10 minutes later, that glorious sheen was gone. I was so grateful to be there for that fleeting moment, wandering back from my beach explorations. Easily one of my favorite images this year.
Like the image above, ‘Seaweed at Golden Hour’ is the July image of my 2026 Photo Calendar, which you can purchase here.
Seaweed in Tide Pool
Many times when I explore the local tide pools, I forget to break out my circular polarizer filter. I was so grateful I didn’t for this one. It was able to remove the surface glare on the water and see all that was going on below the surface. And one other fun fact about this image is that it sort of doubles as a self-portrait. That red glow throughout the photo is my red shirt, which I was wearing, reflecting off the water. When I noticed it in the photo, I tried moving out enough so you couldn’t see me, but it just didn’t have the glow that this version did.
I hope you enjoyed these photos. Which was your favorite? If you like to see more of my work from the beach, visit this gallery here.