All I want...

limr · Dec 8, 2014

...is a nice quiet spot near the water where I can find peace and solitude when the world gets too much for me.

bribrius · Dec 8, 2014

I can see the sentimental value here, but imo this isn't a very good shot of it in some ways the leading line feet go left. the stick sticking up kind of distracting. the water is blown out it seems. And there really isn't a center of interest. Even the sky is rather washed. in landscaping usually there is some processing to pick up contrast, color, something to ad vividness either in camera or in post and I don't see any of that here either. the depth and focus seem to die out right in the foreground as well and much to early as you enter the rest of the frame without much detail.

limr · Dec 8, 2014

Fair enough. Though I wasn't going after vivid colors here, but rather a washed out nostalgic feeling, I can understand your points. I don't mind the reflection being blown out a bit - it feels more real to me, those bright winter afternoons when the sun can blind you a little bit.

Gary A. · Dec 8, 2014

Leo, where I used to live fits the bill. The Palos Verdes Peninsula separates LA Harbor from Santa Monica Bay. There are no nearby freeways, so no 'tourists' to speak of ... locals only. The shoreline of the peninsula are all these secluded California coves, one after another carved out of cliffs 100' high. There is only one beach level parking area at the southern end in San Pedro, access to the remaining beaches requires you climb down 100' shear cliffs. There are a few trails and fewer stairs, once you reach the bottom, 80% of the time you are all by yourself. In the middle of a county with 11 million people, you can have a beach all to yourself. The gulls are not fearful and you can easily walk up to within a couple of feet of them. In a county of 11 million people, you can pick up shells larger than your fist. In an hour of walking around you have a backpack full ... then you start tossing them back because you have better samples ... after you rest, you start making sand castles out of the shells.

PV in November

Pt. Vicente Lighthouse

26 miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me ...

Pt. Vicente & Catalina

One of the few times I ran into some people. If you lie down on these rocks, you can hear the rocks crash into each other as the tide surges in and out. It sounds like thunder.

Tide Pools

Low Tide

High Tide

Solitude at Sunset

Lone Fisherman

limr · Dec 8, 2014

I'll have to dig out my pictures of the cliffs of the western Algarve. Your pictures remind me a lot of what I saw of Sagres, the place where Henry the Navigator launched his ships.

Gary A. · Dec 8, 2014

You'd love PV, quiet, plenty of hiking and exploring, horse trails criss-cross the peninsula, on top the peninsula there are homes with views of downtown LA from one side of the house and from the other side you can see Catalina. In summer, around 6:00 p.m. the fog rolls in and the temp drops from 80F down to the low 50's.

limr · Dec 8, 2014

Yes, but where can I go where the temperature never gets up to 80?? :boggled:

bribrius · Dec 8, 2014

limr said:
Fair enough. Though I wasn't going after vivid colors here, but rather a washed out nostalgic feeling, I can understand your points. I don't mind the reflection being blown out a bit - it feels more real to me, those bright winter afternoons when the sun can blind you a little bit.

limr said:
Yes, but where can I go where the temperature never gets up to 80??

here. well for at least the majority of the year

Gary A. · Dec 8, 2014

limr said:
Yes, but where can I go where the temperature never gets up to 80??

There are eight distinct climatic regions on the peninsula. Living within a couple hundred yards of the coast it will rarely, if ever, get above 80F. A bit farther in the temp will warm up higher than 80 for about two weeks in August. Sometimes during this heat period the humidity goes up, not as bad as NY, but bad for us.

The homes along the coast need no A/C, the homes in the second zone only need a window unit for a few days a year.

The best basketball court in the world.

bribrius · Dec 8, 2014

chit he is making me want to go now..... probably too many people or my taste though..

Gary A. · Dec 8, 2014

When you get tired of people, all you gots to do is set sail.

limr · Dec 9, 2014

It certainly does look beautiful, Tio, and I'd love to visit, but alas, my heart belongs to the Atlantic! :heartpump:

MichaelHenson · Dec 9, 2014

Dangit Gary!!!!!!!!!!! Now I wanna move even more than I did before!

qleak · Dec 9, 2014

limr said:
Yes, but where can I go where the temperature never gets up to 80??

Ireland! Check out waveriders (documentary)

waday · Dec 9, 2014

limr said:
Fair enough. Though I wasn't going after vivid colors here, but rather a washed out nostalgic feeling, I can understand your points. I don't mind the reflection being blown out a bit - it feels more real to me, those bright winter afternoons when the sun can blind you a little bit.

I like this picture a lot. It definitely has that nostalgic/sentimental feeling. I have lots of these types of pictures--ones that mean much more to the photographer and his family than to a casual observer.

And, I definitely agree with the reflection. It feels more real.