A New Year Dawns
So technically, this shot was taken last year...actually last week, but of all the shots I've taken lately, this one seems to capture my hope for a bright future as we begin a new year. Last Monday, Eric Gail and I took off at dark thirty as I had seen a skyfire forecast the night before that showed a 70 percent chance of a sunrise in Santa Monica and Malibu. I had been scouting that area for quite some time as I had seen some sunrise shots from El Matador Beach and, out of curiosity, began to dig around to see what other beaches faced either South or Southeast in that area. A few shots of the Malibu Pier showed up on Google, and I filed that info away, waiting for an opportunity to get a sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. After driving for well over an hour, our hopes began to sink as we weren't really seeing much cloud cover over us. But as we pulled into Malibu, we could just begin to make out a few wispy clouds overhead. As it grew brighter, we knew we were in for an incredible morning of shooting.
When I first began shooting landscapes several years ago, it never occurred to me to shoot a sunrise over the Pacific. Our coastline faces WEST so the California Coast would only be suitable for sunsets, right?
This may seem like common sense to most of you, but it never occurred to me that several sections of the California Coastline actually face South or even East, and in the Winter months, the sun literally rises over portions of the Pacific Ocean. Some of these locations are more obvious than others, and Malibu Pier is one such location as the pier is not sticking out toward the Southeast rather than the West. It was only after I spotted it on the map that I went to google to see what this pier would look like with a Winter sun behind it, and I was encouraged by the results.
So it was with this in mind that I encouraged poor Eric to get up at 4 AM for our long drive out to Malibu on Boxing Day. We both came away with several compositions, but this one was one of my favorites. Happy New Year, everyone!
(N.B. Special thanks to a local photographer named David for his hot tip of another amazing sunrise location. I hope to get some shots up of that location soon!)
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +
A New Year Dawns
So technically, this shot was taken last year...actually last week, but of all the shots I've taken lately, this one seems to capture my hope for a bright future as we begin a new year. Last Monday, Eric Gail and I took off at dark thirty as I had seen a skyfire forecast the night before that showed a 70 percent chance of a sunrise in Santa Monica and Malibu. I had been scouting that area for quite some time as I had seen some sunrise shots from El Matador Beach and, out of curiosity, began to dig around to see what other beaches faced either South or Southeast in that area. A few shots of the Malibu Pier showed up on Google, and I filed that info away, waiting for an opportunity to get a sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. After driving for well over an hour, our hopes began to sink as we weren't really seeing much cloud cover over us. But as we pulled into Malibu, we could just begin to make out a few wispy clouds overhead. As it grew brighter, we knew we were in for an incredible morning of shooting.
When I first began shooting landscapes several years ago, it never occurred to me to shoot a sunrise over the Pacific. Our coastline faces WEST so the California Coast would only be suitable for sunsets, right?
This may seem like common sense to most of you, but it never occurred to me that several sections of the California Coastline actually face South or even East, and in the Winter months, the sun literally rises over portions of the Pacific Ocean. Some of these locations are more obvious than others, and Malibu Pier is one such location as the pier is not sticking out toward the Southeast rather than the West. It was only after I spotted it on the map that I went to google to see what this pier would look like with a Winter sun behind it, and I was encouraged by the results.
So it was with this in mind that I encouraged poor Eric to get up at 4 AM for our long drive out to Malibu on Boxing Day. We both came away with several compositions, but this one was one of my favorites. Happy New Year, everyone!
(N.B. Special thanks to a local photographer named David for his hot tip of another amazing sunrise location. I hope to get some shots up of that location soon!)
--------------
Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | 500px | Twitter | Google +