Tag: light

More stunning beauty in the Botanical Building.

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park is a garden paradise. I love to walk through it, searching right and left for small scenes of stunning beauty.

This afternoon I managed to capture some good 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!

Do you love Balboa Park? Please visit my special blog which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!

Strange fragments of morning light downtown.

Early this morning I walked through downtown.

As I descended Cortez Hill, the sun ascended. Color flared from the eastern horizon.

I walked west down B Street for several blocks, then zigged over to Broadway, then zagged back to C Street. My destination was the Santa Fe Depot.

Slanting light ricocheted off windows, around shadows, and through a maze of towering buildings. Fragments of light appeared mysteriously everywhere.

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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!

Visually interesting photos of downtown buildings.

I have a tendency to take photos of everything and anything while I’m walking. Sometimes I’m surprised at the results!

Here are some visually interesting photos of buildings in downtown San Diego. You’ll find reflections in windows, strange shadows, and splashes of light. There are unusual shapes, surprising contrasts, and a few delightful discoveries.

Every walk through downtown is an optical adventure!

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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!

Green Flash public art in Mission Beach!

Beside the Mission Beach boardwalk, across the street from the "Hamel's Castle" surf shop, one can find the Green Flash.
Beside the Mission Beach boardwalk, across the street from the “Hamel’s Castle” surf shop, one can see the Green Flash.

I love fun, super creative public art!

Thanks to the imagination of Malcolm Jones, the San Diego artist who also created Imperial Beach’s Surfhenge, people can glimpse the Green Flash right next to the boardwalk that runs along Mission Beach!

This cool artwork is inspired by that rare sunset phenomenon called the green flash. An educational plaque also provides a scientific explanation of why the color green might briefly appear. I like to learn new things, too!

People head down the fun, always busy Mission Beach boardwalk, not far from public art titled Green Flash.
People head down the always busy Mission Beach boardwalk, not far from public art titled Green Flash.
The Green Flash seems to rise just above the far horizon of the blue Pacific Ocean.
The Green Flash seems to rise just above the far horizon of the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean.
A plaque describes the unusual public artwork. Green Flash by Malcolm Jones, 2002. Solid cast acrylic and concrete.
A plaque says who created this unusual public artwork. Green Flash by Malcolm Jones, 2002. Solid cast acrylic and concrete.
A beachgoer walks under the Green Flash in Mission Beach. I see Belmont Park's Giant Dipper roller coaster in the background.
A beachgoer walks under the Green Flash in Mission Beach. I see Belmont Park’s Giant Dipper roller coaster in the background.
The sunset phenomenon called the green flash is often cited but seldom seen. A diagram shows how near-horizontal sunlight is refracted through the atmosphere.
The sunset phenomenon called the green flash is often cited but seldom seen. A diagram shows how near-horizontal sunlight is refracted through the atmosphere.
I think I've glimpsed the Green Flash!
I think I’ve finally glimpsed the elusive Green Flash!

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Ships, water, light and magic.

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I finally got my act together. Late this afternoon I renewed my annual membership in the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Why?

Perhaps it’s that deep feeling of living inside history.

Perhaps it’s the light-splashed ships.

Perhaps it’s the water like molten silver and its dancing, inexpressible magic.

Perhaps it’s the sea, and my longing for a far horizon.

I can’t think of the right words.

So I’ll let my small camera speak its own language. I took these photos before sunset.

UPDATE! I substituted one of this post’s original photos with a new one taken a week later. Can you guess which one? The sky is a bit different, but it’s still the same time of day–perhaps an hour or less before sunset.

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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!

Another magical walk around Tuna Harbor.

If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you probably know that I love Tuna Harbor. It might be my favorite spot in San Diego.

Today, a little before sunset, I had another magical walk down the G Street Pier. Sunlight sprinkled stars upon the water. Slanting light reflected from a jumble of fishing boats; it silvered the downtown skyline.

After taking many photos of interesting stuff on the working pier, I headed around Tuna Harbor into Ruocco Park.

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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 few photos around sunset at Marston Point.

This evening around sunset I took a short walk through Marston Point, which is located in the southwest corner of Balboa Park.

Trees were gradually darkening. Directly to the south, Cortez Hill–the part of downtown San Diego where I live–gleamed like a shining paradise in the sky.

To the west, buildings near the bay and on Bankers Hill were crowned with streaks of pale gold.

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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!

Optical magic at the Marriott Marquis.

A bicyclist passes reflections on the glassy two-level ballroom of the Marriott Marquis.
A bicyclist passes reflections on the glassy two-level ballroom of the Marriott Marquis.

Here are two magical photos. Bright reflections of nearby high-rises were captured by my camera as I walked past the new ballroom expansion of the Marriott Marquis. I love San Diego’s beautiful waterfront.

Optical magic on glass windows.
Optical magic on glass windows.

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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!

Bright green leaves form patterns of beauty.

Here are some amazing photos that I captured today at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. During my slow walk into the Lower Garden, I halted beneath a tree and looked up at the leaves. Sunshine was beaming through, illuminating the many layers of green.

The complex patterns of leaves appear to me like swirling three-dimensional fractals. The patterns are strangely magical. They are beautiful.

Later in the afternoon, I ventured over to the International Cottages and enjoyed some colorful Philippine folk dancing. You can see those joyful photos on my special Beautiful Balboa Park blog by clicking here!

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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!

To read a few short stories I’ve written, click Short Stories by Richard.

Do you enjoy beautiful things? Please visit my other photography blog, which I’ve named A Small World Full of Beauty.

Rain creates magic in a very special garden.

Raindrops on leaves at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.
Raindrops on leaves at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park.

During today’s spring rain, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park shined with magic. Every leaf was enchanted. Every part of the garden was blessed with a profound and mysterious beauty.

Rain nourishes life: every life.

A spring storm creates unexpected beauty.
A spring storm creates unexpected natural beauty.
Wet, bright green leaves.
Wet, very bright green leaves.
Budding spheres of red magic open mysteriously.
Budding spheres of red.  Like magic they open mysteriously.
Water in the grooves of a beautifully marbled stone by the garden path.
Water in the grooves of a beautifully marbled stone by the garden path.
Droplets on a fern, like a curtain of beaded diamonds.
Droplets shining on a fern, like a curtain of beaded diamonds.
Sunlight through magical layers of green.
Sunlight through dreamy, magical layers of green.
More simple beauty at the always wonderful Japanese Friendship Garden.
Simple beauty at the always wonderful Japanese Friendship Garden.
Fragile blooms encrusted with crystal-like rain.
Fragile blooms encrusted with crystal-like rain.
Smooth forms of beaded water on a sloping leaf.
Smooth forms of beaded water on a sloping leaf.
One photograph of beauty in a special garden, on a rainy day in San Diego.
Another photograph of beauty in a special garden, on a rainy May day in San Diego.

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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!

Do you love Balboa Park? Follow my special blog which I call Beautiful Balboa Park!