In the summer, it can be surprisingly hard to find a quiet stretch of the Oregon Coast for nude photography. Arcadia State Park was one place I knew would almost certainly be empty once the sun went down, so I headed out with my camera and tripod and waited for the beach to get quiet.
One thing I have learned with self-portrait photography is not to try just one idea. I move the tripod around, change the framing, try different rocks and stretches of water, and give myself permission to make a lot of photos that may never become anything.
That evening, the light was doing most of the work for me. The last warmth of sunset was disappearing behind the Pacific while the water and sand shifted into these deep blues. I loved how my body became almost a silhouette against all that color.
As it got darker, the beach started to feel almost otherworldly. I kept trying different poses and letting the waves move around me, never quite knowing what the camera was going to capture until I walked back to check it.
There is such a peace for me in standing naked beside the ocean. The Pacific is enormous. The cliffs are enormous. The sky keeps going long after the light is gone. And somehow all of that makes my own worries feel a little smaller.
I think that is one of the reasons I return to places like this. The ocean reminds me how small I am, but not in a way that makes me feel insignificant. God is bigger still, and I can trust that I do not have to understand or control everything around me.
By the end of the shoot, the sunset was almost gone and the beach had become dark and blue. I kept shooting until there was hardly enough light left, enjoying those last quiet moments with the waves moving around my feet.
Then came the walk back down the beach in the dark, camera packed away, stars overhead, and the sound of the Pacific beside me. Those walks are sometimes just as meaningful as the photographs. A chance to surrender the day, trust God with whatever I am carrying, and remember that I am deeply loved even when I cannot see very far ahead.