We took a short trip to San Diego to visit this beautiful, seaside city. More precisely, we stayed in the community of La Jolla in a grand, old seaside hotel, the La Jolla Shores. Although in need of a facelift, it has many charms, most notably its location on the beach, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
We stayed pretty close to the hotel and managed to enjoy some pretty good weather, particularly good for capturing some interesting photos. One of the highlights was the stunning sunsets we viewed on each of our two evenings on the beach.
One of many shots I got at sunset on our first evening in La Jolla. This shot was taken at the Scripps Pier, which belongs to the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. The long exposure due to the declining light creates the smooth, velvety appearance of the waves washing onto the beach.
This picture was taken the following evening atop the cliffs at Torrey Pines looking out over the Pacific Ocean just moments before the sun disappeared below the horizon.
A similar shot from the same location as the previous photograph, but about 15 minutes earlier. This picture is actually darker despite being taken earlier. That’s because I had to adjust for the greater brightness of the sun, higher in the sky. I reduced the exposure to compensate for the brightness, causing the shadows to be darker. I refer to this picture as Chopper at Sunset. If you look closely at the horizon on the right side of the photo, you’ll see a military helicopter just about to exit the scene. San Diego is a large center for the USN and USMC, so it is not unusual to see a lot of their aircraft in the area.
Another shot from the top of the cliff, looking out over the Pacific. Despite its location high above the beach below, the platform is for a lifeguard. Presumably the lifeguard can better monitor the beach from this vantage point and direct his cohorts when needed to assist swimmers in trouble. The soft light at this hour is great for photography; less glare, fewer shadows and the warm colours of twilight.
While photographing sunsets atop the cliffs, I was entertained by the para-gliders and hang-gliders operating from this same location. They simply leap off the cliff with their parachutes and gliders and sail around, seemingly effortlessly above the ocean below. The pilots are obviously very skilled and their ability to manoeuvre their crafts with precision is quite amazing to watch. I enjoyed trying to capture them against a great scenic backdrop. As it darkened, it became increasingly difficult to freeze their motion as the exposure times lengthened. Following are a couple of shots I was able to get before the light got too dim.
Earlier in the day we walked along the seashore at several locations including downtown La Jolla. There was great scenery, some big waves and a picture perfect day to enjoy it.
Everywhere we went, we saw flowers. The coastline is lined with them, creating a brilliant palette of colours. Despite the beauty, these resting sea lions seemed less than impressed by it.