An amazing sunset in Carmel
An incredible sunset on the beach in Carmel, CA - I was quite happy that evening!
Sometimes it just all comes together!
I love to shoot sunset as much as the next person, maybe more. So when I am traveling to a lovely destination such as Carmel, CA and I happen to also get some amazing light, well that just makes my day. I've had plenty of trips where I go somewhere awesome and the light is crappy, but sadly there's not much to do about that. Just take your shots and move on. But now and then the forces align and you get a stunning sunset on the beach. It does happen!
Catching sunset in Carmel
A stunning sunset in Carmel, CA - an incredibly quaint and beautiful spot in northern CA!
I do love to visit Carmel, CA! Such a great spot for a sunset!
Have you been to Carmel before? It's a lovely little village - yes, I would call it a village - down by the sea a bit south of San Jose, CA. It's super expensive but so quaint, beautiful and quite fun to visit. I have been several times and really never tire of it.
On our crazy-long road trip last summer, we passed through there for a couple of nights, which means of course that I was on the beach firing away at the sunset on one of those nights. Luckily, I picked the right one (our first night there) because it was gorgeous, while the second night the sunset was not that great. Hey, sometimes you guess right and get lucky!
So I strolled downhill to the beach and basically hung out for a while, firing away and chatting with others that were there. Of course some folks asked me to take their picture - I obliged, naturally - and otherwise I stood around enjoying nature's bounty with a lot of strangers. Good times, really!
Walking into a screensaver
The stunning beaches and colorful water in Anguilla are almost unreal...
Walking along the beaches in Anguilla is a bit like walking into a screensaver. The white sugary-sand beaches are pristine and that water just begs to be photographed. Honestly, you know I love to post-process my photos but who needs to do that when you are capturing this??
Golden hour in Anguilla
Golden light over a serene beach in Anguilla...
The beaches in Anguilla are amazing!
When we visited Anguilla earlier this year, I was amazed at just how beautiful this little spot is. I captured so many photos of serene, beautiful beaches in all sorts of light. This was just before sunset and as you can see I had the place nearly to myself. I'm not sure where everyone was, but I am very glad to have been standing there while this was happening!
Sadly, Hurricane Irma came through and devastated large parts of this island. According to reports I read online, this location (which is at the Four Seasons Resort) was heavily damaged, so I wish them all a speedy recovery.
A lovely Floridian sunset
A pair of photos from a lovely sunset in Destin, Florida...
I'm hoping that Florida is recovering from the hurricane!
Watching all the hurricane madness in Houston and across Florida and the Caribbean is a pretty sobering thing to do. I feel blessed that I don't know anyone (at least that I have heard of yet) that was seriously impacted by these terrible storms. Such a tragic situation.
I do love Florida and have found many spots there that I enjoy visiting. This is Destin, and it's definitely a beautiful spot (and to my knowledge, not impacted by the storm). We were there well over a year ago for a couple of days, just enough time to squeeze in a little sunset shooting. I'm hoping the beaches and the people are all back together and moving forward soon.
Anguilla is a dream
We took a trip down to the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean, and it's just amazing!
We recently took a trip to Anguilla, and it's amazing!
Truthfully, I knew nothing about Anguilla - not even how to pronounce it correctly (rhymes with vanilla). I had heard the name but that's about it. Turns out it's an amazing little island with some INCREDIBLY clear water. It's like walking into a screensaver!
We hit the beach every day, did some snorkeling, sat by the pool - basically we relaxed, and it was awesome. We needed it. Now that I am back and getting back into the groove, I am working through all the pics I took there. They mostly look like this one! LOL More to come!
South Texas sunrise
A beautiful sunrise along the Texas Coast...
From a few years back...a lovely sunrise along the Texas Coast!
I will admit that our Texas coastline is not as beautiful as other coastlines in the US. That's just a personal opinion of course, but having seen several beach in Florida, California and Oregon in my travels, I have to say that those other ones are prettier.
But that doesn't mean you won't find plenty of beauty along the shores of Texas beaches. I was down there a few years ago for a Spring Break trip with the family, and since we were all up, we walked down here to check out the sunrise. I'm glad we did!
The light and cloud combination was just perfect and I was able to capture quite a few shots like this. It was a great morning for photography, and it just goes to show that you can find beauty everywhere.
Afternoon at Arch Cape
A pair of photos from an afternoon stroll on the beach in Arch Cape, Oregon...
Still working through Oregon photos. ;-)
We spent a chunk of the Summer of 2015 in Oregon, and I came home with about 9,000 photos. I will probably be working through them for years, which is ok by me. I love diving back into the library and seeing what awaits. It's sort of like a virtual return to the wonderful spots we saw.
If you haven't been to Oregon, I highly recommend a visit at least once. Especially along the coastline, which is stunningly beautiful, you can really enjoy nature and capture some fabulous shots. In fact, I put a list together here on the blog if you want to check it out.
Top Photo Spots On The Oregon Coast
I have been fortunate enough to visit there several times, and always enjoy it. It feels like you are in a movie or something...just so much natural beauty. Today I share a pair of photos I captured on the beach at Arch Cape, Oregon one afternoon. It's a tiny little hamlet just outside of Cannon Beach, and since we stayed in this area we were on this beach almost daily. Good times.
Sunset on the Emerald Coast
On our recent jaunt to Florida and back, we spent a night in Destin. We had heard about the beaches there and just had to check them out. Check out these photos of a stunning sunset I captured there and get my thoughts on the place as well. Enjoy!
A stunning sunset in Destin, FL
I'm not really a beach guy. I tend to prefer the cool air and stunning landscapes of the mountains. So maybe I'm a mountain man? Given the choice, I would head for the high ground every time - and bring my camera, of course.
But on our recent trip over to Florida (we were in Orlando to visit the Harry Potter theme park), we made a stop in Destin while making our way back home to Texas. Destin was chosen primarily out of convenience, but having heard so much about it over the years, we all wanted to check it out and really see if it was as beautiful as we had heard it was (we stopped there for a night on the way to Orlando too, but barely had the time to see it). We had heard about how the beaches there have such sugary, white sand and emerald green waters, so we had to inspect it for ourselves.
We're fan. Big fans. It's really gorgeous!
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” ― Rabindranath Tagore
It really just took a short sunset walk along this gorgeous beach to get us all hooked (and what a sunset it turned out to be!). While we enjoy our trips down to the Texas coast, our beaches here are not the same. The beach in Destin is just absolutely gorgeous. The sand feels like sugar - and looks like it (though with these shots being taken at sunset, you can't tell - so just trust me). The water does look sort of aqua-green in color, which you can get a sense of in the photo above. I can see why they named it the Emerald Coast.
We have already talked about planning a return trip. It's about a 2 day drive from Austin, TX which is pretty doable. After our trip last summer, 2 days feels like it flies by. It really does. That hardly counts as a drive these days. :-)
While I don't want to lay around on a beach all day - it's just not my thing - I can certainly give it a try, especially if the day ends with a sunset like this one. Sign me up!
Also, I shot all of these photos handheld with my Sony 28mm f/2 prime lens, which is awesome. You can read about that here. It's a fabulously small yet capable lens and I just love walking around with it on my Sony A7II. They make a great pair! I've been using it a lot and if you are interested, check out my review. It includes sample photos (including a couple of these) as well as some thoughts on what I like about the lens.
Baker Beach
I went here for a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge...and saw lots of fog.
Haha, that happens in San Fran. What can I do about it? Just shoot away, fog or no fog, right?
My plan when I arrived here was to stick around and get some nice light around sunset, but with the fog dropping in so heavily, it never happened. So instead I hung out, climbed some rocks, took some photos, and watched some of the tourists walking around...and enjoyed the heck out of it.
It's really a beautiful spot, whether it's foggy or not. Someday I hope to get back there with the camera and try again, though I must admit the location isn't very convenient for my travels to San Fran, as I am usually stationed on the far other side of town, near the Bay Bridge (that other bridge in SFO). And of course, that's why I usually end up with a lot of photos of the Bay Bridge. I shoot what I can get to, in other words.
So, I will cross my fingers that someday I can get back here to Baker Beach and shoot sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge, because this is definitely a great place to be to see it!
It's sunny in Hawaii
Ok, I am not currently in Hawaii, but I suspect that statement is true.
It's cold here in Austin, and it's REALLY COLD in a lot of the rest of the US. We have the whole polar vortex thing going on, whatever the heck that is. Sounds to me like a hole in the space-time continuum...and Santa is going to fly through it. Certainly makes me think of Back To The Future. "It's the flux capacitor, Marty"!
Anyways, hope you are warm and comfortable, wherever you are. Unless you want to be cold, in which case I wish that for you. You know what I'm saying. Be good people, and thanks for stopping by.
BTW, this was taken on Maui, which is a place that totally kicks a$$. I'm shutting up now, because this isn't going anywhere. :-)
A beach in Maui
There’s just something about Hawaii. I never really think that I want to move there, but boy do I ever enjoy visiting that place! It’s just so relaxing. I guess part of it is the island lifestyle, but I’m guessing another part of it is that since you are 5 hours or more behind the mainland, you just can’t stay up to speed on what’s happening back there...so you don’t try. Instead, you have a drink with a little umbrella in it, and work on your sunburn.
When we were there in April, my wife and I took a car out for a day to drive around Maui, and headed part of the way out the road to Hana. It’s a famous drive, but it’s really a winding road and honestly, it gets old after a while. So we stopped before we made it, turned around, and found this black sand beach to enjoy for a while. That’s better than driving. :-)
Blue hour at Wailea
Well, I am just back from a trip to Maui, which was fabulous. I mean...it’s Maui...how could it not be fabulous? If you follow my page on Facebook, you will have seen some iPhone shots I posted from the road. I saw a lot, did a lot, and of course photographed a lot. So, it was a great week in other words!
Although I am still trying to un-bury myself from all that I missed while gone (and thanks to everyone who visited and left comments here on my shots), I did manage to process one photo from the trip so far...and here it is.
This was a beautiful evening blue hour on the beach at Wailea, where we were staying last week. Due to the 5 hour time difference, I found myself mostly able to shoot sunrises, but I did manage a few sunset shots as well. More as I get to them!
On Carmel Beach
Carmel, CA is an incredible town. It’s like a little English village in some ways, except it is situated on the beautiful Pacific coast in Northern California. I love it there. If I could afford it, I would seriously consider living there. It’s just great.
Anyways, we were there for a family vacation one week, and did our best to spend time on the public beach, which is a short stroll from the main street shopping and dining area. I of course had my camera with me and at every opportunity, I was snapping some photos. In other words, I was taking pictures about every three seconds. This one was taken a little while before sunset, late one afternoon, while we were enjoying the incredible weather, standing on an incredible beach, on the edge of an incredible little town. I want to go back.
Sunset in Naples
I caught this sunset in Naples, FL earlier this year. Obviously, it was incredible. That's about all I have to say about that!