If a picture is worth a thousand words, I would have to up the ante on this one and say it is worth much more than that. When I posted this photo on Facebook back in 2013 I posted it with the caption “Happiness is: a picture that captures your true essence”. It had 85 “likes” and about 25 comments.

I actually remember this day like it happened yesterday. It was 2011 and I had turned 40. B and I had planned a road trip up the PCH from LA to San Fransisco, and stopping along the way. A couple of weeks before the trip I came down with some stomach bug (later to find out it was not). I didn’t want to commit to spending so much time in the car so we changed our plans, 4 days in LA and three days in Vegas. I could live with that (right?)

We took this beautiful drive up the PCH to Malibu. The sun was shining, the drive was spectacular and then we got to this part of the beach. We walked down a pathway and some stairs to the bottom of this, what seemed to be secluded beach. There were a few people here and there, but otherwise it felt like we were the only ones there.

We walked for a while. We passed a couple of photo shoots which made perfect sense. It is the ideal situation for a photo shoot. There were people having picnics. There we were, walking around with our DSLR cameras taking photos. B even brought his ‘paparazzi’ lens, and used it.

We were taking photos of each other and you know what happens when someone says smile. You have that fake smile that makes people cringe. If you are a avid fan of “friends” picture Chandler posing with Monica for their engagement photos. Enough said.

After taking my picture of few times, I think B must have said something about the fake smile and it made me laugh. Then he took the photo above. I didn’t really think too much of it at the time.

I made a photobook of our travel adventures and on the last page of the book there were some candid shots of us on our own. I put this photo in the book. I hadn’t really shown it to anyone before. Every single person said that it was one of the best photos of me they had seen. It was quite surprising that something so unscripted and candid could have such a reaction.

So there is it. It has become a photo that means a lot to me. It represents a wonderful day filled with great memories. Time with a friend that you comfortable with and can be yourself around. A time that I will remember for a long time to come.