Sonoma Coast Sunset

It’s hard to handle seeing this kind of beauty every day! It’s even harder deciding which photos capture the essence of the moment in time we are trying to keep forever.

It was Valentine’s day recently and since the hubs and I really don’t celebrate just 1 single day of loving each other (shouldn’t we be special to each other every day?) it usually isn’t a big deal for us. Well mother nature had a different idea and decided to put on a show for all to see. The sunset on Valentine’s day was made for romantics!

We had planned on heading out to the beach after our wine club pick up party on Saturday to practice sunset shots again since the weather was warm and the waves were big. Apparently a couple hundred other people had this same idea! (of going to the beach that is)

It was a gorgeous 77 degrees when we left our house and headed, top down and music playing, to Bodega Bay. We knew we wanted to head just north of there to grab the great shots with the iconic rocks jutting out of the sand. The beaches were packed! Usually unheard of in February but mother nature gave us a Valentine’s day gift of low 70’s at the beach. We barely found a parking spot along Highway 1, grabbed our bag and blanket and headed down the bluff to the lovely sandy beach of Schoolhouse Beach. Most are rocky up here but there’s a few that have some good expanse of sand even in higher tides.

We walked a little way and found just the right spot for a couple hours of taking pics and enjoying the sand between our toes. The sun was about 20 minutes from setting so I did some practice shots to get the settings right and find the spot where we would plop in the sand for the best view.

As per usual I am the monkey with the camera running around dodging the waves and adjusting my camera constantly as the sun goes down. It’s fun for me and I imagine entertaining for others to watch. Occasionally the hubs takes a photo of me doing this fun stuff. I ran back to the blanket for the actual setting of the sun to spend it with the hubs and still take a deep breath when I think of how gorgeous it was at that moment.

I took 608 photos. I know, I know that’s a lot but how could you not? I whittled that down to 192 of which I did some minor post processing touch ups and then the hubs and I finally narrowed it down to 21 of our favorites from the evening.

Enjoy the gorgeous sunset pics below! I hope everyone had a magical evening!

How can you only pick 1 or 2 of this spectacular show we were witnesses to?

Adding this post to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge Rule of Thirds. Using this rule really helped with the composition of the photos. Check out other awesome bloggers with amazing photos here!

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  1. Oh my, these are truly spectacular! What a gift from nature! I think I like the one you titled “splash” the best because of the way you captured the water spray above the waves. Gorgeous, gorgeous shots!

    1. Thank you! I half couldn’t believe these amazing images came from my camera. It was an amazing show mother nature provided us. I do love the spray on that one!

  2. Got to love a good coastal sunset! Particularly liked how you drained the colour out as the sun went down, although my favourite of the set was the ‘dancing waves’ one with the light coming through the splash of water.

    1. Thank you! Yes, we love coastal sunsets…they are amazing all the time! The waves and the sky were both putting on a great show for us 🙂

  3. I’m glad you posted this link on Karen’s blog (fillyourownglass)! The shots are breathtaking, thank you for sharing them all–because indeed, how in the world are you going to choose only 2????

    1. Thank you for stopping by and your kind words!

  4. Yay I found your blog thanks to Karen and you’ve got yourself a new follower 😉

    1. Thanks Caitlin! I love the energy on your blog!

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