A very small moment with a small shell on a large beach on a very large ocean. 1/4000th of a second, to be precise.
The color of the soil in this photo, taken at Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah, is caused by iron oxide. Parts of it have turned white through "bleaching", a natural process wherein water dissolves the iron oxide and strips its color. Pretty interesting: http://geology.utah.gov/online/pdf/pi-77.pdf
They do things differently in California...
