Tag Archives: sunset

Landscapes from a Moving Car, Part II: California

19 Mar

One nice thing about road trips is that along scenic stretches, a car is a mobile room with a view. But when a long day of driving is on the agenda, it’s hard to stop and admire every lovely landscape. So I put my camera on Sports/Action mode, aim it through the window as we are whizzing by, and hope some of the resulting photos turn out. (Of course, I only do this when I am a passenger, not the driver…).  Here are some shots from a recent road trip from Northern to Southern California, and back.


Old farm buildings near Gilroy


Foggy morning landscape near Gilroy


Mountain landscape with wildflowers near Gilroy

  
Plowed earth near Monterey                     Mountain and clouds near Grapevine


Red barn building near Castroville


Northern California sunset

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Postcard from San Diego: Sunsets and Pelicans

3 Feb

What is it about watching the sun set? The jewel-like colors in the sky? The feeling of being witness to that day’s curtain call? Or is it that magical feeling that comes from watching that last flash of light as the sun dips below the horizon–that blink-and-you might-miss-it moment? For me, it’s all three.

A National Geographic article on the science of sunsets says the sun sometimes appears as if it is raging against the dying of the light, but for me, the sun’s final act of the day is a moment of utter silence and absolute peace. If I can capture even a fraction of that with my camera, I feel lucky. On a recent evening on the pier at Ocean Beach in San Diego, I felt doubly lucky when I came across two brown pelicans, who, like the sun, were also calling it a night.



  

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Between

24 Jun

Sunset at San Clemente Pier, California–a brief moment between day and night. Photo taken through train window–a transparent barrier between photographer and scene.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: The Golden Hour

12 Jul

This photo captures not so much a golden hour, as a golden moment. Winter in San Diego: the sun has just set but its light still lingers, casting a golden glow along the horizon, silhouetting the few hardy surfers remaining in the water, and reflecting off the wet sand. This is twilight. Four minutes later, it is gone.

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