Point of Inspiration

On March 1, 2012 I was assigned to photograph the rebuilding of trails at Point Lobos State Park. A light rain was coming down at the office as I jumped in my car and headed down Highway 1. As I made my way south of Carmel and passed Monastery Beach I started thinking about the area's importance to photography. I was entering the former stomping grounds of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

I entered the park and drove out toward the Bird Island Trail where the work was being completed. On my way I passed a series of amazing vistas which even under the gray, overcast conditions were striking enough to distract me from my mission. I passed Weston Beach, and arrived at the base of the trail.

I had just started out on the trail when California Conservation Corps worker Marcela Medina came up slowly from behind using a mechanized toter to carry granite boulders toward the area where work was taking place. I stopped and shot some frames as she walked above China Cove. "Wow," I said, thinking of the trail workers as much as myself as she passed through my frame. "What a beautiful place to work."