I didn't expect to see many sunsets on this May Gray trip and I don’t have a clue where I'll get the cash to pay for this vacation sequel but I have enough photos from the last trip to make up a diary of Prodigal Sunsets.
Here is a Happy accident. Cameras do funky things all the time when you point them directly at the sun. Do it as often as I do and occasionally the mistake offers a pleasant result;
As many in the Top Comments Crew know I have a little obsession with capturing the perfect sunset. At home I have a view of the Hudson and the Palisades but here on California beaches the sunsets can be so much more interesting. There are rocks and trees for foreground filler;
On April 17, the first night of my last Laguna vacation I ran around trying to capture an interesting photo. The shared emotion at sunset by someone else;
The joy of children in the surf;
Even the fun a wet pup enjoys in that last light;
But what I really love about a Laguna sunset is the action shot. This one just screams California;
I was on Laguna Beach so much at sunset that I caught some real action photos. I didn't know this woman nor did I get permission to take any pictures. She was posing for a professional photographer and I just decided to join in until the told me to get lost. They never did and I enjoyed my introduction to voyeurism. This is the only one I can show from that series or I'll be banned from photobucket;
I also spent a few sunsets at Venice Beach and Santa Monica. A little more voyeurism and warm fuzzies from photographing lovers on the beach. They did give permission and were both Daily Kos fans;
Up in Santa Monica I tried my luck at ripping off an Apple I-Pod graphic;
Here's a happy story within a happy story. I did not see the sunset on my second day in California because I was enjoying a wonderful meal in OrangeClouds115's favorite restaurant Spread with both her and San Diego Dem.
OrangeClouds115 and I met at her place and after lunch on the beach we walked Torrey Pines State Reserve with our nature host (photo below) entertaining us with both identification and interesting stories about the local flora and fauna;
No sunset but here's a photo of the overcast late afternoon sky with both OrangeClouds115 and San Diego Dem wondering why they went hiking with such a slow poke;
On my second day I was a very early riser to go see the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall. After that Saturday matinée I had lunch with Floja Roja at one of my favorite restaurants Barney's Beanery. We drove to the Santa Monica pier and walked around Venice Beach. This was the latest we were there;
I got yet another lesson in the drawbacks of procrastination. Walking through Santa Monica I mentioned to Floja Roja that I always wanted to capture a sunset in the center of the Pacific Wheel. I finally made it there on another day this vacation but a new solar energy panel takes a bit away from the photo. I'm thrilled there is a solar panel on the pier but I should have made it there sooner;
I could offer every sunset I watched from the beach with details about how I spent each day but I don't even think my mother would want all that information. One of the many advantages about being a photo buff is that when I come back I do have a visual diary of each day and it brings back details that are often forgotten.
Here's my favorite from days three and four. The sunset from April 21 is softened by overextending my telephoto as the sun melts into Catalina Island and the sail boat reminds me of Der fliegende Holländer;
One of my favorite sunsets of that two weeks on the beach came on April 22;
The sunset on April 23rd didn't need any help but who you see it with can improve a good sundown;
Besides the ripples in the sky to mimic the Pacific I had very good company to watch me clicking away madly. Trashablanca and Doobie Dog were there. No Doobie is not really interested in photography. That is his "I see another dog" look.
Doobie would have needed a knife if he ran into these two bruisers on the following evening;
On April 25 I missed the sunset again because I was enjoying a good dinner and wonderful company but OrangeClouds115 and I ran into this most happy fella at the San Diego Zoo;
My final night in Laguna was a solo dinner I made myself and enjoyed on my balcony;
On that last day I witnessed people powered politics Laguna Beach style and I was so impressed that I wrote Outstanding in the Field: Laguna Beach Activist before checkout. I was commenting on the 405 as I drove up to Arlington West and met poligirl for the first time. I took so many photos there but I've got to show these two;
That Sunday was a good night for a sunset;
The following sunset was my favorite because it reminded me of something I heard from Jim McKay all through my early years. The Thrill of Victory...
And the agony of defeat...
While I was in Venice Beach I rented a bicycle for four days and did my five piers tour twice always starting at the Santa Monica pier and ending at the Theater of Magic pinball machine in the Redondo Beach arcade. I took this racing for my next to last California sunset;
And this was the last sunset of my last vacation;
Well if every picture tells a story that was the most happy stories you will ever get out of me and I should be all done but I'm back here and it seems that May Gray is canceled for this stay so here is last night's sunset;
How about you, do you have any happy stories?
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