Walton Lighthouse: Santa Cruz, CA

Walton lighthouse, a famous landmark in the Santa Cruz area. My family vacations here every summer, and this time, I really wanted to get a lighthouse photo. It was one thing missing in my collection, and since we were going to be at the coast anyway, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

My original plan was to get Pigeon Point in Pescadero, just a 45 minute drive from where we were staying, but for some reason the coastal fog was really bad there. On our second night, I took a drive to Pescadero thinking I would get a colorful sky with the lighthouse, only to drive into dense fog 20 minutes from Santa Cruz. I left there thinking my lighthouse dream would have to be delayed for a while. The next day we were driving around town, and we drove right by the Walton lighthouse, and I thought, "Oh! I forgot about that one, I should just shoot that one."

Our last night there, it seemed like there was going to be a colorful sky. All my sunset forecasts though were saying there wasn't, like maybe there was going to be too much fog off the coast line to keep it from lighting up or something. But it's just a mile from where we were staying and it was our last night, so I thought I might as well just try. I made the short trek to the beach, walked barefoot out on the sand and found my spot where I would want to shoot it. There were a decent amount of sailboats out close to the shore, and I thought, "how cool would it be if I got a sailboat in the shot?" I took a couple with a boat far off in the distance, but just as the sun was starting to set, this one started sailing right by the lighthouse. I knew this was my shot. I just started taking as many photos as I possibly could, and as fast as I could. Just trying to make sure I got it as perfect as possible. When I looked at the photos, it was exactly what I hoped for. The sailboat balanced with the lighthouse, colorful sky, smooth water, it was a dream. I finally had my lighthouse photo.