I visited the Cambria, California area in May of 2023 and am already planning a return visit. Cambria and the surrounding area offer quite a lot for landscape photographers, from cypress groves and forests to dramatic and rugged coastlines.

On a quiet Saturday afternoon, I visited Arroyo De La Cruz with the plan to photograph La Cruz rock. To my pleasant surprise, I had the entire beach to myself. I was expecting at least a few other visitors and photographers. I began hiking along the edge of the bluffs, taking in a few of the cliff faces and small alcoves with makeshift beaches, only accessible from the ocean.

**Cliffs, Arroyo De La Cruz Beach**
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The afternoon sun had broken up the morning fog, creating some cloud cover. Yet even in mid-afternoon, it was clear the bank of fog at the horizon would engulf the sun before sunset proper. I hustled along the rest of the trail to get down to the water’s edge. The sun sat above the looming marine layer, casting nice golden reflections on the beach. I set up in the shallows waiting for the right set of waves to rush in and surround the legs of my tripod. As the waves receded, I fired off a few frames capturing the ebb.

**Ebb, Arroyo De La Cruz Beach**
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The sun began to dip behind the cloud bank hovering over the ocean. I turned my attention to the beach itself, which was peppered with tree branches and driftwood. Spring storms had washed a lot of debris on to the beaches. I found one curved tree branch isolated from the others and used it as a subject to anchor the foreground..

**Sunset, Arroyo De La Cruz Beach**
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The light continued to fade. I turned my attention to La Cruz rock, the subject I’d intended to photograph all along. Opting for a long exposure and a moderate focal length, I framed up the rock in what fleeting light remained.

**La Cruz Rock, California**
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The sun slipped fully into the fog bank, all golden light faded, so I finished my visit to Arroyo De La Cruz with a few captures of the waves hitting the rocks at the base of the cliffs I’d hiked along and down. I fixed my tripod, focal length, and focus point and captured several volleys of waves. In post-processing, I opted to blend a few of the images together to balance the wave action across the frame.