El Matador

Today I headed up PCH to visit the beach of El Matador for the first time.  It's about 10 miles north of the Malibu pier, and a little bit of a hike down to the shoreline.  It has been dubbed "the most romantic beach in Los Angeles" and I can definitely see why - the coast was dotted with couples with picnic baskets, couples walking hand in hand, and waves crashing against lovely rock formations.  The sunset was simply beautiful - the tide getting low and the sun reflecting off the water, creating gorgeous oranges and shadows among the rocks.  As the sun lowered into the ocean, new blues and pinks spread across the sky, forcing everyone on the sand to stop and absorb the beauty of this place.   It was ones of those days that made me fall in love with Southern California for the millionth time.

I took this solo trip as an exercise in manual mode, trying to stretch my photography muscles (so please forgive the lighting).