Lou is a notoriously late sleeper, and I am an early riser. When I opted to spend Easter weekend at his parents’ house, I subsequently found myself all alone in the wee hours of the morning. Knowing I’d have to entertain myself for several hours, I drove to Belmar beach, about 10 minutes away.

It was a hot weekend, but the ocean was still freezing, resulting in swathes of fog that extended their tendrils across the sand, the boardwalk, and the road, to curl around the first block of homes and business that look onto the water. It wasn’t as empty as one might expect for Easter Sunday; there were surfers, people playing frisbee with their dogs on the beach, runners on the boardwalk, and walkers like me.

This columned building is a beach-side restaurant called Matisse.  I love how faded it is on the left, and I like to imagine the people inside are ghosts.

Matisse in the beach fog

The pile of wood, older architecture of this building, and the fog came together to make me think of the yellowed postcards of the beach back when people wore one-piece bathing suits. It took the sepia coloring quite nicely. The blurriness of the horizon gives it a haunting quality, and the roughness of the wall helps it look aged.

Sepia beach scene in the fog

I know ocean pictures are overdone, but I thought the fog and the color made this a more unique shot. Usually, the Atlantic is dark blue with some green in the right light, but it was all green that day. It reminded me more of the Pacific, in fact. The coloring, the lack of a horizon, and the water upon the waves all came together in a way that made my familiar ocean look like something altogether different. I took some pictures but soon realized the camera’s narrow viewpoint was simply not enough to take in the broad landscape. The waves were so long and large, swelling like breaths, and again, though I’ve seen this particular beach countless times, it looked brand new to me that day. For a few minutes, I actually put the camera down.

Green foggy ocean

In contrast to the sepia postcard, this next one is almost hyper-colored. I just like the lines — there are so many right angles, so many rectangles, nesting here, framing the pale and formless beach. It’s about the contrast — the muted greys and blues giving way to beige and then white. I don’t know, I think I just have a thing for architectural shots. There’s nothing inherently beautiful here, just something ‘right’ that appeals to me.

Shaded corner overlooking the beach