Ol Man In Cliff Ol' Man Sunset

With sunsets being one of my favorite genres, how fitting that I start with this one, an image I call The Ol' Man in the Cliff. Over the next few weeks I will feature some of my favorite sunsets. Some beg a story be told, while others simply the beauty of the setting sun will be enough.

This image was taken on the beach at The Montage Resort in south Laguna Beach, California. 

What first captured my attention when I took the photo were simply two young people standing on the rocks in the distance enjoying the sunset setting out over the Pacific Ocean. It wasn't until I downloaded the image and took a closer look at the silhouette of the sand cliff to the right that I saw the old man in the cliff. Like a prehistoric troglodyte was this old man in the cliff standing guard over his portion of beach assigned to him. Or perhaps as a sagacious watchman was he with the awesome responsibility of making sure all is as it should be over this stretch of the southern California coastline. Regardless of how your imagination may work with this image, it is quite an enchanting silhouette.

Taken in the early summer of 2013 with a Nikon D7000, 28mm lens with a shutter speed of 1/800,aperture set at f/11, ISO 200, no flash and adjusted -1/3EV for exposure compensation due to the bright sun.