Tag Archives: sunset

Post-Storm Beach Sunset (Photos)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Kelson

A rainstorm hit Los Angeles today and cleared up in some parts of the region during late afternoon. After work I made a beeline for the nearest beach to catch the sunset, which happened to be Dockweiler Beach at the end of Imperial Highway.

Ocean Sunset & Clouds

The beach was absolutely deserted when I arrived (not counting the gatekeeper who dutifully collected $6 for parking), which made sense — it had been a cold, rainy day in November, and it was almost sunset besides. The sand was all wet, covered with tiny little pockmarks from the rain.

Rain was still falling in Santa Monica to the north and somewhere inland in the South Bay — possibly Torrance or Redondo Beach. Lit from the side, Santa Monica looked like there was a golden haze above the city. Continue reading →

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Ocean Sunsets: Beach and Bluffs

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Kelson

It’s been six months since we moved, but I’ve only recently started really exploring the area. I think I just got caught up in too much other stuff for a while.

Lifeguard Hut After Sunset

One day a few weeks ago, I tried to make it to the nearest beach I could in time for sunset. I missed…but while on the mostly-deserted beach I caught some nice views of pink underlit clouds over the Santa Monica Mountains, and this view of a closed lifeguard tower at El Segundo Beach.

Palos Verdes Sunset

Then there was the clear afternoon when I went exploring the Palos Verdes area, looking for public parks where I could see the LA basin. Not much luck on that count, but as sunset approached, I decided to see if I could make it up to Del Cerro Park (more photos from this spot taken during daylight) up at the top of the bluffs. I did, and because the park is actually higher than the next hill over, I got to watch the sun set over the ocean and behind a hill at the same time.

I stayed up there for a good 20 minutes after sunset, watching the sky darken through twilight. It was incredibly windy that evening, and even from a thousand feet up with no direct sunlight, I could still watch the waves between the mainland and Catalina Island, moving slowly through the strait like tiny ripples in the direction of the wind.

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Orange Sunset & Double Rainbow Over LA (Photos)

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Kelson

We’ve had a couple of storms run through Los Angeles over the past week. Last Friday, I went up to the top of a parking structure after work to look at the clouds, and stayed to watch a double rainbow and the play of light at sunset.

Orange Under Clouds

This was the view that surprised me the most: Bright orange (a little more magenta in real life than it looks here in the photo) on the underside of the clouds, but plain gray on the sides.

Continue reading →

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Land and Ocean Sunset (Geography Geekery)

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Kelson

Saturday night we went out to the Redondo Beach pier just in time to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. One thing that I found a bit odd was that it appeared to be setting behind a line of distant mountains. While the coast does curve westward at Santa Monica, I was pretty sure that due west of us was nothing but sea, though I figured it could have been the Channel Islands, or a very sharply-defined cloud bank.

So I did what any geek would do: looked up the angle at which the sun had set that evening.

I found two tools: The NOAA solar position calculator let me figure out, given latitude, longitude and time, the sun’s declination. Then I found another tool that let me enter the latitude, longitude, and compass bearing and see a line drawn on a map.

It turned out that the sun was setting roughly 21° north of due west, putting it roughly in line with the coast from Malibu toward Ventura…on the seaward side. The line finally connected with land out toward Point Conception, roughly 120 miles away. That’s probably too far away to be visible from near sea level, depending on how high the mountains are out there, but if the angle was off just a little bit (I did estimate the time), it could easily have be the Santa Monica mountains above Malibu (more like 20 miles).

So yes, I did watch the sun set over the ocean and over land at the same time!

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Turning Los Angeles Orange

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Kelson

Last Wednesday night I rode the Green Line home at sunset. When it wasn’t blocked by trees or houses, I had a great view of Downtown Los Angeles reflecting the orange sunlight.

After a few minutes, the train hit exactly the right angle to catch the setting sun itself reflected in all the downtown buildings! It was bright enough to completely overwhelm my cameraphone, as you can see.

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Orange Clouds at Sunset

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Kelson

Orange Clouds 1

The view when I stepped out of the office last Thursday night. Not retouched at all except for cropping.

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Maxfield Parrish Sky

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Kelson


Maxfield Parrish Sky, originally uploaded by Kelson.

I stepped out of the office building tonight and felt like I’d stepped into a Maxfield Parrish painting. The whole sky looked like this. (Or at least the half that was visible.) It literally stopped me in my tracks.

I spent the next 15 minutes walking around the parking lot, watching the lighting on the clouds change as the sun set, and taking pictures.

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Magenta Sunset

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Kelson

Watched the sun set, its disc tinged almost magenta by the smoke plume from the Morris fire near Azusa stretching along the horizon.

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Yellow Clouds at Sunset & Herringbone Moon

Posted on December 14, 2008 by Kelson

Yellow Clouds at Sunset, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Last Thursday evening, this was the view from one of the office windows.


Herringbone Moon, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Later that night, I took this photo. Or rather, these photos, since it’s a composite of two, one which picked up the herringbone pattern of the clouds and one which picked up the moon and the corona surrounding it.

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Orange Clouds (no rain)

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Kelson


Orange Clouds (no rain), originally uploaded by Kelson.

The sunset view as I left the office this evening. The clouds turned even deeper orange over the drive home, with streamers of pink running halfway across the sky.

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