“Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away.” – Sarah Kay
“Congratulations guys! But you’re not allowed to shoot here.” Damn. We’ve only stepped foot on Salk Institute for a mere few seconds and here we are, already being hassled by “the man”. “Can we at least shoot for 30 minutes?” I pleaded, while trying my best to look like a sad puppy. But no luck. We were shooed away. But one thing that I noticed is that the security guard was nice and pleasant about it. Well we are in San Diego. People here are not as snooty. So now where to shoot? Because it feels like life just handed us a bunch of lemons. So now do we make lemonade with it or throw it at the security guard? Or both? We drove around for awhile and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at finding a second location, we just decided to try our luck and shoot downtown. We walked not even a block from where we parked when we spotted this quaint coffee shop slash restaurant in the middle of downtown La Jolla. Hemmed in by bigger and more flashy establishments, you could easily pass by and not give it a second look. If not for the place being adorned with succulents hanging from a frame and a sink that sat outside the patio, we would have ignored it. But we decided to check it out. The place sure did charm the hell out of us. I hurriedly surveyed the area and spotted the manager inside getting ready to close the diner. I knocked on the door to try to get his attention. At this time I had already convinced myself that with the way things have been going he’ll probably say “NO” and shoo us away. Again. But I was still hoping that someone, or some way, our lemons will turn into lemonade. I knocked again. He opened the door slightly, just enough for his head to peek out. So with reckless abandon I asked permission if we can shoot inside his fine establishment. He stared at me for awhile and my camera. I had a whole spiel ready in my head in case he says no. I was ready to plead my case. I have a gorgeous looking couple behind me and I’ll be damned if he still refuses to acknowledge my request. “Sure.” he answered. And that was it. He closed the door and went out the back. I looked at Clarissa and Matt and gave them a thumbs up. “We’re good to go.” Amazing how in the game of life, things can turn around so quickly. One minute your down on your luck with nowhere to go, the next minute you are shooting at this charming location with the perfect light and with the perfect people. So whether it be in life or in love. Or both. Rejection is part of the game. But whatever you do, don’t give up. You just go ahead and keep on kissing that shoreline.
