A while back I was searching for unique beaches in Florida and came across Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. What makes this beach unique is it has a fairly large coquina rock formation that stretches a considerable distance down the shoreline. Outside of Blowing Rock preserve in Jupiter, this is one of very few areas like this in the state.
This past weekend I decided I need to get out of town so I took a trip up to St. Augustine. While there I made it a point to visit and photograph the beach at Washington Oaks.
As is typical of Florida this time of year, there was an afternoon thunderstorm that chased me away from the historical St. Augustine area. I initially tried going over to the nearby Anastasia State Park but the threat of lightning here was a little too disconcerting so I made the decision to drive the 20 miles south to Washington Oaks.
I arrived around 7:00 PM. It was still sprinkling when I got there and continued to do so for the next 45 minutes. Regardless, I went out and explored the beach despite the rain. I was quite excited by what I found. The rock formations here offer countless possible compositions. All I could hope for was that the rain would stop and the sky would be adequately dramatic.
I got my wish. The rain did finally cease and the clouds had a lovely pink hue to them. I photographed numerous compositions using neutral density filters to allow for a long exposure of the crashing waves of the Atlantic. As an added bonus, as I was getting ready to leave, there was a full moon rising.
Some highlights from the shoot are below…
I certainly will likely return here in the future. I would like to photograph the beach here again, but there is also a substantial part of the park away from the beach that I did not even see. This I believe would definitely be worth returning for.
