Yesterday afternoon, Jess and I went out to Stinson Beach to photograph a campaign for Sperry’s.
As the sun was making the last of it’s decent, we called it quits and began the drive home.
Snaking up and out of Stinson Beach, only a few turns up the hill from the last stop sign in town we spotted a young coyote trotting along the edge of the road. I pulled the car onto the grassy shoulder so we could watch him.
He trotted to within 30 yards of us before starting to make his way off the road and up the hill.
As he reached the high grass, Jess spotted a deer as she popped her head up out of the shrubs and grass another 30 yards behind him.
As the coyote continued to meander past us through the grass, another deer to our left popped up and bounced at the coyote and shooed him away to our right.
It was quite a comedic encounter between the deer and the coyote. During all of which we had our backs to the sea and the sun.
As the action died down, we turned around to one of the most beautiful scenes we’d ever seen.
The sun was barely hovering over the last hill in the distance and the entire coast was lit up with some of the brightest burnt orange light I’d ever seen.
Over the next 20 minutes I shot some of the most amazing photos I’ve ever taken.
As Jess and I stood next to one another, taking in the last few rays, we commented on how rarely we go shoot photos just for fun (we’re typically always shooting on assignments).
It’s so easy to lose touch with the fun that drew you into creative work in the first place.
Those 20 minutes were some of the most fun we’ve ever had with a camera.
And we owe it all to that trotting young coyote who pulled us out of our routine and into the magical, serendipitous moment that was sitting right over our shoulders.
In the most fitting of endings, as the last ray of light dipped below the coastal ranges, our young coyote friend emerged down the road to our left, trotted down the golden highway, turned the corner, and slipped out of view.
