A blazing orange and yellow sunset behind palm trees on San Diego’s Embarcadero.
I saw magic this evening. The spell was cast as the sun neared the horizon. I lingered a few moments near Pacific Highway downtown, spellbound.
Golden light on the rippling sculptural facade of the Marriott building at Lane Field. The cool public art conceals hotel parking levels. It’s titled California Rain and was created by artist David Franklin.The sunset’s orange flames have become glowing embers in the dark windows of several downtown skyscrapers.Reflected sunset in many different glass windows behind the Santa Fe Depot.Dome of the Santa Fe Depot seems enveloped by magical panels of molten color.
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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!
Early morning sunshine brightens the east side of St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego.
Yesterday morning, just before I walked down from the top of Cortez Hill, I saw an incredible sight. My eyes discerned a very faint rainbow to the west–even though only a few wispy clouds were in the blue sky.
To my surprise, the rainbow arched downward to touch the gleaming cross atop St. Joseph Cathedral. Amazed by the sight, I walked along Beech Street to take photos of bright morning sunlight on the cathedral itself.
The rainbow is so faint in my zoomed, cropped photo that I must confess I changed the contrast and brightness a million different ways and debated whether it even merited a blog post. I’ve decided it does.
Cool San Diego Sights might be a tad philosophical at times, but it intentionally avoids supporting any particular religious (or political) view. Because a sense of wonder and a love for beauty are shared by many. And because there’s enough bitter debate in this old world.
Whatever one might believe, seeing the rainbow above the shining gold was something wonderful to behold.
Sunlight on the high cathedral tower.A faint rainbow ends at the golden cross atop St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego. Photograph taken the morning of February 20, 2017 from Cortez Hill–the corner of Cedar Street and Seventh Avenue, to be exact. Brightness and contrast were altered to bring out the rainbow.A beautiful morning and early sunlight provide inspiration.
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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, brightly glowing clouds filled the sky this morning above San Diego’s beautiful Cortez Hill neighborhood.
The first thing I noticed upon stepping outside this morning was the amazing sky above Cortez Hill. The clouds were glowing and so beautiful and complex that I almost got a kink in my neck.
I took lots of photos as I walked. As it turns out, my most incredible images all seem to include the handsome El Cortez building–so the subject of this blog post became obvious!
A crescent moon is just visible to the left of the landmark El Cortez sign.A street lamp is still on. Another fantastic morning in downtown San Diego for a pleasant walk.Amazing clouds paint the blue sky above the historic El Cortez and other nearby, more modern high-rises!
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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!
Early morning sunlight reflects from a building’s shining windows in Mission Valley, casting heavenly beams of light through a slight fog.
It was very foggy this morning in downtown San Diego. I had my camera out as I walked from the top of Cortez Hill to the Civic Center trolley station. By the time I reached Mission Valley, the fog had mostly dissipated. I was very fortunate to capture that almost heavenly first photo! Those slanting beams are exactly as they appeared to the eye!
A bird flies past Cortez Blu, which rises into a foggy downtown San Diego sky.Vantage Pointe in downtown San Diego rises into a fog illuminated by the rising sun.Fog and sunlight create a magical morning photo of skyscrapers on B Street in the heart of San Diego.Beautiful light on tall ghostly buildings.
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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!
Glorious sun and clouds through trees high above Mission Valley.
I’m going through thousands of photographs stored in my computer this morning. I’ve found a number of beautiful nature shots taken over the past year or so.
Sometimes I can be in a hurry (or feeling a bit lazy) and I don’t properly label or categorize my images. I’m not sure exactly where I captured a couple of these. Somewhere around San Diego . . .
I’d like to thank those of you who follow this blog. I know there’s loads of stuff on the internet, and a whole lot of San Diego websites that are slicker and more professional. I’m just a regular guy and my amateur photo blog is nothing more than a work of joy. And a way for me to see this complex world more closely as I walk around the city. I hope that together, in the weeks and months ahead, we experience even more beauty and many more Cool San Diego Sights!
Now I’m off on a leisurely Sunday walk. Where will I go? I haven’t decided yet! I guess I’ll begin by stepping out the door . . .
One tiny part of a vast, intricate, simply wonderful world.Dazzling bits of stone (and a couple pieces of broken glass) in the water of Mission Bay.Colorful leaves inside Balboa Park’s Botanical Building.Complex, dramatic clouds above our fair city.Delicate natural beauty seen during a hike in Mission Trails Regional Park.A pure white egret on a branch by the shining San Diego River.Crashing water meets wet, smooth stones on the ocean shore in La Jolla.A shapely succulent in Balboa Park. Nature produces another marvel.Beautiful clouds and blue sky above San Diego Bay.I took this photo yesterday walking along Friars Road as I approached the San Diego River estuary. A few droplets cling to green leaves.Photo of a beautiful pink rose taken during a walk somewhere 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 enjoy beautiful things? Please visit my other fun photography blog which I call A Small World Full of Beauty.
Golden morning light near Horton Plaza creates a cool sight in downtown San Diego.
It’s raining right now in downtown San Diego. I hear the patter outside my window.
The antidote to gloom? Some warm, beautiful photos of golden morning light!
I took these photographs a couple months ago during a pleasant walk to the Convention Center trolley station. The sky was clear. Slanting light touched high buildings.
Photo of early sunlight slanting onto a few Broadway buildings in the heart of San Diego.The historic U.S. Grant Hotel with splashes of morning light.Bright morning reflection in windows.Light shines on the Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter building.Peering at reflections on the AT&T building and beyond.Looking skyward along a path of light.Turning to look north along Front Street early one clear morning.East side of the New Children’s Museum. Glass and interesting architecture in the morning light.The beautiful Horizons Condos San Diego towers catch light from the rising sun.Palms along Harbor Drive, and morning light and shadow on the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.
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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, revolutionary holographic painting by visionary San Diego artist Tom Liguori. Photo taken through a window. Image contrast and sharpness adjusted. Photo cropped to eliminate reflections.
You might recall that earlier this year I blogged about some genuinely revolutionary holographic art. I had discovered some dazzling paintings in the windows of downtown’s old Gaslamp 15 movie theater, which has now been closed for almost a year. The paintings were created by Tom Liguori, a retired local entrepreneur, who is working to develop a completely new holographic art form.
Well, I noticed a new crop of his holographic paintings in the same windows the other day, so I’ve taken more photos. This new batch of works, if possible, seems even more vibrant and visually interesting. Some paintings are presented on a turning carousel allowing the sidewalk viewer to perceive their three dimensional quality. Placing my camera right up to the window glass, I tried hard to take photos without morning street reflections, and I’ve cropped some of the resulting images and adjusted contrast and sharpness to present this spellbinding art to the best of my ability. But you really have to see the holographic effect in person!
I was fortunate to meet Tom Liguori by chance a few months ago while I was walking around the Gaslamp. He was out on the sidewalk with some photographers, who were documenting one of his fantastic paintings. He’s a super friendly and interesting guy!
To see my earlier blog post, which I published in June before I met Mr. Liguori, click here. I didn’t adjust the images of those paintings a great deal, and the street reflections are much more evident. In that earlier blog post I also provide much more background about this new art movement, and what it all means to Mr. Liguori, an artist with an interest in physics and philosophy. Fascinating stuff!
I see he now has a website, where you can learn even more. This revolutionary artwork is available for purchase. To check his website out, click here!
Another work of fantastic, light-imbued art by Tom Liguori, a retired businessman who experiments with proprietary holographic paints.Colors and light change appearance in this holographic painting as the point of view shifts. This almost looks like an abstract still life.Several brilliant paintings turn in a spotlight on a carousel. One can see these at the now closed Gaslamp 15 movie theater on Fifth Avenue.A shield-like work of holographic art seems to produce streams of light in this photo. But it’s actually reflections on the window from the nearby street.One can get lost in this shining, jewel-like art. Wonderful!
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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!
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What is it like to be almost struck by lightning? If you’re a writer, the answer to others might sound a bit strange.
Well, I was almost struck. On Longs Peak, coming down from the summit, about 20 years ago. That one flash of lightning stabbed so near my heart, and electrified my mind with something so majestic and indefinite, that I had to write something down. In the form of a story.
That short story is titled A Dance in the Lightning, and I just finished it this morning. Or perhaps it’s finished. I have a tendency to periodically change the fiction in my blog Short Stories by Richard.
The lightning at times is close, but more often it’s miles away. And it’s only glimpsed for a brief instant.
The recently restored 1910 Broadway Fountain is lit with red and green light during the Christmas season at Horton Plaza Park in downtown San Diego.
Look at these colorful photos! Horton Plaza Park and the U.S. Grant Hotel are putting on quite a show for Christmas. Bright red and green lights have turned downtown San Diego into a cheerful wonderland this holiday season!
A closer photo of the handsome Broadway Fountain lit up at night with traditional Christmas colors.Light changes from red to green as water splashes in the beautiful 1910 Broadway Fountain designed by noted architect Irving J. Gill.Across Broadway from Horton Plaza Park, the historic U.S. Grant hotel is also lit in Christmas colors for the holiday season.People sit at tables near the outdoor Starbucks at Horton Plaza Park one early mid-December evening.The bright Balboa Theatre sign invites passersby on Fourth Avenue behind the Horton Plaza Park sign.People have gathered for the evening in and around the Horton Plaza Park amphitheater. Downtown San Diego is lit beautifully for Christmas.The Broadway Fountain and U.S. Grant Hotel put on a cheerful show of Christmas lights in San Diego.
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