Monterey Bay, California

The weather along the coast in early February was unseasonably warm and sunny, so I decided to take a drive along the coast. It was late afternoon, the best time for shooting, but there was almost none of the typical marine haze that I was hoping would provide favorable lighting conditions. However, the higher contrast actually helped emphasize the twisted, rough shapes of the old cypress tress, so I decided to try for a monochrome image. The shot produced a wide variety of tones and textures in the trees, rocks, and other plants, while the trunks of the dead and living trees, all leaning inland in the direction of the wind, provided an interesting diagonal "twist".