Tag: clouds

Photos of high winds downtown.

San Diego is now experiencing very unsettled winter weather. High winds, rain, even thunderstorms and a funnel cloud or two. Lots of snow in the mountains to the east.

Today the wind throughout downtown was unusually strong. Especially by the water. Not quite the devastating winds we experienced one night five years ago, when numerous boats were driven into the rocks along the Embaracadero and sank. (You can see those tragic photographs here.)

But I saw flags flapping wildly, palm trees bending as if they were made of rubber, and I had to constantly hold onto my hat!

When I reached San Diego Bay, which is usually calm, I was surprised by the stormy, foaming waves. It always amazes me that deep water can be disturbed powerfully by wind along its surface.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Fog and silver at South Mission Beach.

I took these moody photos yesterday afternoon near South Mission Beach Park and the Mission Beach Jetty. You can see the volleyball courts on the sand. You’ll also see the nearby lifeguard station.

The lowering sun had vanished behind a gray bank of fog drifting in from the Pacific Ocean. I thought I’d snap a few photos to see how they’d come out.

They seem to tell a mysterious story about life.

And about silver that lives in the gray.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A plane lands at sunrise.

This morning at sunrise I was walking along the edge of Florida Canyon in Balboa Park when I noticed an airplane approaching San Diego International Airport.

As the FedEx cargo plane descended I captured this colorful series of photographs…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Fantastic morning clouds and a mystery!

Can you see it in the above photograph? There seems to be a rainbow painting the clouds around the sun!

This and the following photos were taken a couple mornings ago in Mission Valley perhaps an hour after sunrise. I was going through the images just now, wondering if I should use them, when I noticed the rainbow colors!

What’s odd is the sun was in front of me, not behind. Perhaps this mysterious “rainbow” was caused by an interesting combination of refraction and reflection within the layered clouds. Or was this ring of color merely produced by my camera’s lens? That’s probably the explanation. That seems to be the case in the second photo.

These clouds might also be tinted by the last remnants of smoke from a recent wildfire in Mexico, south of Tecate.

I’ve added a little contrast and sharpened most of these photos so you can see more fantastic cloud detail.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Amazing sunset from Balboa Park’s West Mesa!

Would you like to see some amazing sunset photos?

I happened to be in the right place at the right time as the sun set this evening. I was walking along Balboa Park’s West Mesa, looking up at lace-like, brightly lit clouds, when color began to seep into the sky.

As I continued south the sun descended. When I reached Marston Point, the sun’s last red rays peeped over Point Loma in the distance.

In some of these photos you can see not only the nearby buildings of Bankers Hill, but distant Point Loma, and glimpses of San Diego Bay and even North Island. In one photograph you can see a small part of the downtown skyline.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Sunset photos from Waterfront Park.

This evening I sat on a bench by the fountains of Waterfront Park and watched the sun slowly set behind the beautiful tall ship Star of India.

As light turned from silver to gold, I took this series of photographs…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Keep having a good day!

Keep having a good day!
Keep having a good day!

I recently walked through Sherman Heights. I wanted to check out a very interesting old church that one can glimpse east of downtown while driving along California State Route 94. I’ll be blogging about that shortly!

As I walked up Market Street, I came upon this fun street art!

A happy sun shines above a confusion of living clouds.
A happy sun shines above a confusion of living clouds.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

October sunset over San Diego Bay.

This beautiful October evening I walked along the Embarcadero as the sun slowly neared the horizon. Golden light was cast over San Diego Bay when the sun slipped behind a few clouds.

Many others were out walking by Seaport Village. Some lingered on the nearby pier. Those aircraft carriers you see across the bay are docked at Naval Air Station North Island, at the north end of Coronado. The rock band I passed while walking along the water at Embarcadero Marina Park North is called Thundermaier. They sounded really good.

It was a nice cool evening. Perfect for an easy stroll.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

The sun rises again over San Diego.

The reliable sun rose again this morning. It cast its warm light over San Diego.

The sun promised to eventually climb above downtown skyscrapers.

Breathing in fresh air, moving between long shadows and seeping sunlight, I aimed my camera eastward and took a few photographs as I walked along the Embarcadero.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Beauty close to your door.

The coronavirus pandemic we’re all involved in is a very difficult thing. To slow the spread of the contagious, dangerous COVID-19 virus, we all must maintain social distance. Most public areas are now officially closed.

Personally, I find being shut up inside for much of the day a bit depressing. But you know what? Look what I photographed just outside the back door today!

What beauty awaits close to your door?

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera. When the coronavirus pandemic finally subsides–hopefully sooner rather than later–my journeys of discovery around San Diego will resume!

You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!