This was a challenge to focus with the lens that I had on the camera, but I could not pass up the chance to try to photograph this so very small and unusual cluster.
The beach was positively littered with the leggy remains of sand crabs this morning. The red beetle shell caught my eye amongst the piles of beige and tan, nestled up against one of our plentiful milk quartz pebbles.
At first glance, it is sad photo. The beetle has clearly been tossed about, jostled in death. But then again, maybe it is not so sad. For the tiny beetle to have provided the glorious splash of red on a miniature scale was a bit of serendipity. And now, rather than washed back out with the next wave, he sits here preserved as an image on my computer, after having added a bit of brilliance to an otherwise monochrome photography session.