Night Light of the North Coast: Strange Looks at the Beach

The cave’s mouth opened onto a world of dazzling light and color beneath the cosmos. A shooting star stabbed across the camera’s eye. The bright point near its tip is Saturn, while the brightest point is Jupiter. To their right is the Milky Way. September 18, 2020. Humboldt County, California.

A trip to the beach in search of night light yielded a few views to share from Humboldt’s beautiful Pacific coast. Though most poignant was an image of a dead ray lying on the beach, its tail in the still waters of Little River where it emptied into the ocean, it was the beauty of the world seen from a cave that called to me most.

I would have let the cave image stand alone. It should, in a way, but in working with it, other things started happening. The image took me on a visual trip of its own as I played with it. I noticed the forms and shapes and how things might line up. I moved the image around, trying this and that until, as I looked through the cave’s opening, a face stared back at me. Hmm. I played some more. More faces.

I will leave you with them now, and let your imagination do the rest.

To read previous entries of “Night Light of the North Coast,” click on my name above the article. To keep abreast of my most current photography or purchase a print, visit and contact me at my website mindscapefx.com or follow me on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx.