Morning Marine Layer

I will never not love spending my Sunday morning watching the sun rise along the coast.  I headed up PCH, stopping at Piedra Beach, Zuma, and a stretch of beach a couple miles north of the Malibu pier.  The ocean was dotted with surfers, waiting for the perfect wave and the only sound I could hear are the waves crashing.  Dark and moody driving soundtrack provided by Sleeping at Last.

Also Piedra Beach is slightly terrifying, as I had to climb across a stretch of the earth only a few inches across with my camera in tow and all I could imagine was accidentally hurling my body down the cliff and dying. Normal thought, yes?

El Matador Sunrise

I woke up very early this morning - picked up a latte and a friend and zipped up to Malibu. We raced the sun up the 1, and were met with the most gorgeous view of the sunrise.  This is one of my favorite spots in the world.  All photos are unedited.

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).