Week 2: Love and Other Footprints

I took quite a few pictures over the last few weeks - some with the assignment in mind, some just because I saw something I liked. Many of them were objectively more romantic than this photo, warmer; sunsets and the sky, and a couple of them may surface later. But when it came to it this week, this was the photo I wanted to write about when it came to love.

I took it last weekend, on my first trip to the beach  down here since I moved over a year ago. Three of us (including Erika, whose footprints may be here too!) spent a few hours there, and I took quite a few photos.

What strikes me here, and what connects this picture to love for me in a strong but abstract way, is the number of footprints. All these people connected by place, spending a day with friends, family, strangers, or by themselves, taking in the ocean and shore. These are the footprints of everyone and their relationships, the imprints of everything they have seen and felt, all the connections and love they hold.

Not only was I there spending time with friends - something that I love to do - but it felt like part of something bigger.

I'm not sure it's visible here, but one of the things I liked about this was the way that the sun glinted on pieces of shell (and particles of sand). There's a warmth, to the image, obviously, but there are little fragments of dark shells (cool) mixed in with the light and shadow, and every footprint sheds light on something new. There are little twinkles, almost like stars, and somehow it all feels very connected.