Sunset at Rialto Beach

Even though sunset is not until 8:30 pm (already past my bedtime!) these days, we ventured out to catch the sunset over the Pacific at Rialto Beach. There was a fair number of people joining us for the same pleasure on a mild (upper 60-ish) evening. Here are a sequence of photos, in the order of progression of the sunset. Since I adjusted the color balance on each image separately, you'll see some fluctuations in the sky color from one image to the next, but the general trend is correct.



All but two images were long exposures, typically 2-10 seconds each. You can tell them by looking at the waves coming in on the shore. Unlike the photo below, those pictures have details in the water.

As the sun went down, the clouds slowly built into a layer that covered all but the far horizon.

Except for the first and last few images, these are composites of three exposures to get the full dynamic range included.

As the sun drops, the reflection in the water gets more distinct and coloration of the clouds more distinct. In the image below, you see rays of light across the clouds from the edge nearest the sun. This is no doubt the result of irregularities in the distant cloud edge creating gaps in the sun light.

In the next image it is possible to see a hint of green at the border between the red and blue in the clouds. This is, I think, real. I certainly did not do anything to create green here.

As the sun finally sank below the edge of the cloud bank, the hint of rays across the clouds we saw earlier has all but disappeared in the blast of direct light.

And the reflection of the direct sunlight on the water's surface is now intense.

Here we come to the images that were not long exposures so you can see the waves breaking on the shore.

With the direct sun in the frame, we see a circular flair around it.

At last, as the sun begins to set for real, we see the mixing of the reads and blues to give the full spectrum of colors in the sky. With the long exposure, the islands and sea stacks are floating in a featureless sea of pastels designed to relax at the end of a long day.