This was one of my favorite sunset shoots. The clouds were beautiful, the sky crimson, and the plane flying towards the sun made for some artistic photographs.
Tag Archives: sunset
Sonoma Mountain, From Mom’s Camera
After a beautiful morning hike in Helen Putnam Park, and an afternoon of wine tasting in Sonoma Valley, we ended our day of girl bonding by driving up the Western slope of Sonoma Mountain to watch the sunset. It was a stunning view.
Barn on Sonoma Mountain Road
It’s a rough and windy road going up the side of the mountain, but all the views along the way are incredible. From rustic barns to glowing valleys to old fences, it’s a beautiful way to end the day.
Sonoma Mountain Road at sunset
Happy sun-setting.
“But…everyone is going to think we live on a farm!”
Jake and I live on the east side of Petaluma. Typically, I think of the east side as being more “suburban” and boring. There’s not as much character, it’s mostly residential, and there really isn’t much for people to do over here besides go to the grocery store, the park, or go for a run along the outer running/walking path. However, one of my favorite things about being where we live is that we’re just a few minutes walk to the edge of town, which means open spaces and beautiful views.
For Valentine’s Day this year, I decided I wanted to be in charge of our plans. The result was a yummy picnic for two, set up on the hill about a 10-min. walk from our house. It was perfect. The weather was gorgeous, the sun shining, nearly 70 degrees, and we got to our spot in plenty of time to have our picnic and do some people-watching before sunset. Naturally, I took my camera along.
While these pictures are not as magnificent of my shots of the coastline, they give you a very good sense of why I love living close to the edge of this side of town. When I showed Jake the two pictures I was going to use for this post, his response was, “but…everyone is going to think we live on a farm!” Well, I assure you, we don’t live on a farm, but the cows are a nice touch!
We had our picnic here, looking west towards our neighborhood. If you look closely, you can see the houses back behind the tree. This is right at the edge of town.
This is right along the fence line at the east edge of town, about 30 feet from our picnic. My favorite running path goes right along the fence for about a half mile before meeting back with the walking path.
Hope you all had a wonderful and happy Valentine’s Day!
View From My Window
Oh, how I envy Meg’s California vistas. The ocean, the rocks and the shore. I haven’t even mentioned the vineyards.
But late last week I was reminded that Kansas City also has some great views. When my co-worker encouraged me to look out my office window I was surprised and delighted with the simple beauty of the late afternoon skyline. Hope you like these photographs “from my window”.
These pictures are taken facing West from the Jackson County Courthouse. They were taken at about 5:00 p.m. as the sun was setting. The combination of the rich color of the sky, combined with the lights from the city structures are a simple reminder of the loveliness of city life.
Even within the course of a few minutes, the colors of the sky changed dramatically.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend.
Watching The Sun Go Down
I have a fascination with sunsets. That much is clear. But finding the perfect sunset? I’ve found a few, and this one comes close. But I’ve never worked as hard to find a gorgeous sunset as I did on Thanksgiving this year. To make room for our big turkey dinner, we hiked up the ridge above Shell Beach. Pismo Beach was to the South and Avila Beach was to the North. It only took 2 miles and about 600 vertical feet, but we finally found the perfect spot. Our reward? A 2010 Roche Syrah, and a beautiful sunset.
Happy sunsetting.
Sailboats in Morro Bay
Continuing our journey south along Hwy 1, we stopped in Morro Bay for a wine tasting overlooking the water. We were so excited when we discovered the magnificent formations between Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo called the “Nine Sisters.” This chain of volcanic peaks/hills ranges from 576 ft. (Morro Rock) to 1,559 ft. (Bishop Peak) in height. Morro Rock, the smallest of the nine, is the rock you see in the picture below. It sits out in the bay, overlooking the ocean, and is a beautiful place to sit and watch the sunset. Since you all know I love a good sunset, I thought I would share this beautiful scene with you. The sailboats are for Pud:)
Happy sunsetting.
The Power of Nature
I have just completed a major chapter in my life. Working on a campaign is both exhilarating and exhausting, but besides the amazing work experience, I learned a lot about myself through the process. One of my favorite pastimes remains the same… I still love sunsets overlooking the ocean.
Just before the last push of the campaign season, I posted a few photos of my “zen” places. Well, yesterday I went back to one of my favorite spots on the California coast: Bodega Headlands. My visit felt bittersweet. It wasn’t my first visit, and I’m sure won’t be my last, but it had a different feeling about it. Having just finished this incredible experience, my world suddenly feels like it has a huge hole in it. But as much as I am unable to see a clear picture of the immediate future, I felt a wonderful sense of peace. I had warm surroundings, a beautiful view, and of course, my camera in tow.
No matter what I have going on in my life, I will always be humbled by the beauty of nature, and the ocean in particular. It is so powerful, so artistic. Here is what I captured.
And as the sun begins to set…
After it sank below the horizon, the clouds were perfectly aligned to paint the sun’s fiery colors….
Mystery Photo: Can you guess what it is?
While walking around Adobe State Historic Park, these caught my attention. Old and dried out by the sun.
Sonoma Mountain Sunset
Just east of our house is Sonoma Mountain. While I tend to prefer the west side of town, this is definitely one of the benefits of living on the edge of the east side. I loved the character of this particular tree, and it made for a beautiful setting and stunning sunset view.
Night lights from the American Restaurant
We were invited by friends to a special event at the American Restaurant in Crown Center, in Kansas City, Missouri. It is one of Kansas City’s finest restaurants.
Alas, not expecting any need or desire for a camera, it didn’t occur to me to drag along my Nikon. And I could barely squeeze a lipstick and iPhone in my fancy (meaning tiny) evening bag. I was facing the center of the restaurant. Terry was beside me and had been talking with our host. He suddenly pulled out his iPhone and took a photograph of the western sky. If Terry noticed the view, I knew I needed to turn around to see what he discovered. The sun had just set and there was still some light in the sky. But the buildings were ablaze with color. I dug out my own iPhone and took a series of photographs. Here they are.
This is the sky looking North West from Crown Center toward the Kauffman Performing Arts Center. Directly below us there was a nearly deserted street fair with a sky-walk that weaves through the center of the image.
With my iPhone camera already at work, I turned back to the center of the restaurant and refocused my attention on the pattern of lights in the ceiling.
Finally, I became that another window reflected the lights of the American Restaurant. When nearly all the residual light was gone, I took a final series of photographs.
Funny that a lot of wonderful shots are just waiting to be noticed.
Shifting the Balance 