Photo Walking on New Years Day

The gym was closed today.  It’s January 1st so they gave everyone the day off.  I decided to take a photo walk instead of jogging along the treadmill. A photo walk is when you bring your camera along with you for a walk.  The purpose is not always to take photos but rather to walk and if you happen to see a photo opportunity than your camera is available.

I think I ended up getting about 4 miles.  I walked from Sea Lane Beach, down towards Windansea Beach along the coast then over to Bird Rock Coffee Roasters for a little coffee and then all the way back home.  It was a cold day and everyone was walking today.  There really is not that much to do on New Years day if you don’t like watching football.  Everyone had the same idea as me and I could tell that lots of people were out there trying new camera equipment that they had received for Christmas.

I like walking.  You can just think and walk, think and walk.  I came up with lots of ideas for future blog post that I am going to start working on.  When you go for a walk you really commit to nothing except moving your legs and thinking without the disturbances of computers, phones or the internet.  It took about 3 hours for my walk.  I did find a few shots that I liked.

This is the quintessential Southern California shot.  If you ever see shots from Los Angeles or Beverly Hills they always have this upward shot of palm trees and blue sky.  That is because it tells the whole story of Southern California.  Good weather, blue skies and breezy palm trees.   It was chilly today (about 50 degrees F) but the skies were brilliant blue.

As I walked on, the skies got clearer and the sun began to peek through.  Rounding the corner towards Bird Rock I came upon this view.  Its off a small park of Coast Blvd.  This is really the edge of California.  This is where land falls off into the ocean.  Its a beautiful place.  This is the kind of photo that you might see while browsing through the pages of Sunset Magazine. It might say something like, “take a weekend trip to beautiful La Jolla sea and watch the sunset while reading a book on the park bench”.  It would say something interesting, and the picture would compel you to come.  Do you want to?

The sun began to set.  The air grew chillier and I was still about 30 minutes from home.  I began to walk a little faster since I wanted to get home before it got dark.  As I passed by WindanSea Beach, I could see it was a very popular day.  The waves were good.  There was no work to do and the sunset was looking glorious.  I took this picture of a lone surfer catching some of the last waves of the day.  It was a nice photo walk but I was ready to go home.