Land's End

[Second place winner in the Synapse Storytelling Contest photo category.]

Growing up, I deeply admired my father’s ability to capture nature’s magic through photography. He would spend hours at the river near our home devotedly photographing creatures that are often overlooked — golden-furred squirrels basking on sunny branches and sparrows nestled amongst delicate cherry blossoms with pollen-stained faces. He taught me to see magnificence in the “ordinary.” 

I often chuckle to myself imagining what these creatures thought while peering back at my dad — a 6’6” tall man quietly crouching in the bushes so as not to disturb his shy muses. Since I moved away from home, my dad sends me his photographs daily. While some are photos of the birds, most are old photographs he took of my brother and I when we were kids — a clear sign of his loving reminiscing. My dad’s gift for photography was passed down to him by his father. My grandfather was a peculiar man and difficult to feel close to. 

But through his photographs of red, lonely barns with the snow-capped Eastern Sierras as a backdrop — tributes to the Northern California ranchlands he spent most of his life on— I could understand him. Nature, not people, made him feel at home. While photography has always held special meaning to me as a window into the people I love, only recently did it become something of my own. 

As a budding third-generation physician, it appears that the Crocketts’ calling for medicine and natural eye for photography were both passed down through my bloodline— a package deal I suppose. I took this photograph at Land’s End in San Francisco, just before sunset. It is my favorite photograph that I’ve ever taken with the black silhouettes of the Monterey Cyprus trees and the golden rays of light taking on an ethereal quality. 

I remember holding my breath as if to draw out the moment for as long as possible, knowing the light and this scene were fleeting. I watched the light dance through the trees until the sun took its final bow, feeling a profound sense of presence, peace, and connection.