08/02/2026
This shot was taken many years ago at McWay Falls before all the trail closures and landslides blocking Hwy 1. The night sky along the Big Sur coast was incredibly dark, some of the darkest skies I've seen. The Milky Way was so incredibly bright, you could make out the darker details in the Milky Way core. On this night I was also treated to bioluminescence flashing in the crashing waves. This phenomena is created by a light-emitting molecule called luciferin that reacts with oxygen, helped by an enzyme called luciferase, to produce energy in the form of light. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but as the night when on it got brighter and brighter. The fluorescent blue flashes of light looked like something straight out of the Avatar movies. This was all real, no Ai, and a single exposure at that, hence the darker foreground and lack of detail in the shadows.