First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA

There are very few days in a year at First Encounter Beach when the following events coincide: sunset, low tide, moonrise, no parking fee, not too cold, not too hot, not too late, not too many people. This was one of those days, so, I headed off to First Encounter Beach on Cape Cod.

Although the conditions were promising, the sunset was sadly flat and colorless.

I was seriously disappointed at the lack of a colorful sunset - and then I remembered the red umbrella in the trunk of my car...........

......so, all was not lost.

First Encounter Beach in Eastham is the location where in 1620, the Pilgrims had the first encounter with Native Americans while scouting the perimeter of Cape Cod Bay.

I tried a few different compositions.

A red umbrella to a photographer is like a chewed-up Frisbee to a dog. It can likely rescue any outing from disappointment.