we always take lakeville road on our way to the coast, and it is probably one of my favorite roads to photograph. always lovely. always boastful with the seasons. clouds of birds, scatterings of sheep and cows, waves of green hills, rusty-roofed farms, sometimes blinding yellow fields of wild flowers, always meticulous rows of grape vineyards.

on our drive to the coast on thursday night to meet my family for our annual beach trip, i was pouting. ed couldn’t leave until after work, and i knew by the time we got to lakeville road, it would be pitch black. nothing much to see, and i knew what i was missing amid that dark night.

but the moon was fuller than i expected, which lit up the road and the landscapes for quite a ways out. this might have even been more frustrating from a photographic point of view. i wanted those views now, too. i wanted to capture them as i saw them. shades of black under the full moon. but that wasn’t going to happen either in a moving vehicle, two sleepy boys in the back seat, places to go, and no talent for night shooting.

and yet, i tried anyway. heater up and window down. it definitely kept my whining at bay, and i sort of love the outcome. for whatever it’s worth, with a flash, i still captured something about that road even if you can’t see the bright colors or dark silhouettes of the hills and the cows. even if the true vision went beyond what i could actually capture. it still ended up meaning something for me. god, i love that.

what about you? have you captured anything lately that you love, purely by accident or maybe even out of frustration?