Strands Beach

Author's Comments

The walk down is steeper than it looks on the map, and that descent is part of why Strands stays quiet. Most beaches in Orange County earn their crowds through easy access. This one asks you to commit to the climb back up, and the reward is a stretch of sand that feels, on a winter weekday at four in the afternoon, like it belongs to whoever bothered to come. I keep returning in January and February. The light angles in low across the water and the headland cliffs above the beach throw long shadows that reach almost to the surf. When the tide pulls back, the reef rock surfaces in geometric panels that hold seawater in shallow mirrors, and for maybe fifteen minutes before the sun drops, those pools catch the sky and turn the foreground into something close to abstract. A long exposure here softens the surf against the hard edges of the rock and the contrast does the work for you. The south end is where I spend most of my time. The formations are denser there, the compositions easier to find, and the cliff face behind you goes warm and apricot in the last hour. Bring a wide lens for the scale and something longer for the details in the reef. Go down with enough time to work slowly. The climb back up is easier with a photograph you are happy with.

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