My hunger to explore Southern California continues.

Thanks again to the All Trails app, I was able to find this small hiking area in Ranchos Palos Verdes, CA, simply known as the Palos Verdes Bluffs.  [Sidenote: this section of LA county, Palos Verdes and Long Beach is slowing growing on me. There are really beautiful views and images every time I head down this way.]

I did not find much information or history on the Palos Verdes Bluffs Trail. It sits outside of a few residential streets near the Portuguese Bend Beach Club and just seems to be a few new hillside trails that someone carved into the landscape. As the images will show you, it had a great elevation above sea level for some nice views overlooking the coast and Rancho Palos Verdes Beach. 

I had it in my mind to  photograph sunset, and I headed down to the trail a bit early with the sun still high in the sky, but it worked out for the best as I was able to get some really clean, clear, and very green shots of the hillside.

Southern California is slowly being pulled out of a drought thanks to Mother Nature. There's been plenty of rain, so to see a lush hillside like this was relaxing: 

Take note in the following image of the three trees sitting atop this hill. (There are two others to the left, but I focused on the three directly on the hill). They seem to have been planned/planted by humans but beautiful nonetheless. I'm introducing them now as a character in the set, because as you see the sky change over time, the image of those three trees will recur and have a different tone and feeling each time:  

I'm always wowed by the landscape of California. All the variations in flora are astounding. You can feel like you're somewhere across the globe in an instant: 

The three trees: 

Alright, it's time for gratuitous sunset photographs...

I have this interesting thing of being overly in love with color, light and DSLR images. Some photographers know when they, "have it" and just move on. I'm not that photographer. I have it...then I get it again...and again....and then I should probably get it again....then there might be a chance for a slightly better interpretation on shadow so I should get it again....

How often does life give you, or better yet, how often do you take the time to appreciate and adore a moment in nature?

In the following images, I realized that the sun was about to set. I was hoping to be by the water, for a wide vista, a grand image involving the sun, the coastline, the bluffs and a warm orange glow, mmm. But God had other plans. I was in the middle of the trail and as I saw the sun ducking below the horizon, I realized that the best image available to me was right in front of me. It was something smaller, simpler, and more intimate. Not a grand vista, but a small batch of hillside flowers. I took and appreciated what was given to me and spent the last few minutes of sunlight capturing them again...and again...and again...

I'm not sorry, it's my blog and I can over-share if I want to:

How often do you get the chance to appreciate the sunset back lighting and creating a small shimmering glow around a set of small flowers? Beauty: 

I'll jump backwards a bit. Walking along the trail before that sunset moment, I was inadvertently doing a study of sunset and vegetation silhouettes. I could not help but capture images of the trees and brush against the sky.  Again it's the whole, loving DSLRs light and color thing. Also, it was inspired by what I mentioned before, the variation in the flora of California. There were so many different tree and bush types along this hillside, allowing for different emotions along the hike:

A fun lesson I learned from a moment at The Grand Canyon is to not stop shooting even if the sun has gone down. Even with the sun no longer in the sky, there were a few more gems to capture: 

A last look at the three trees: 

This final image was from the street on the way back to the car. At the entrance to the Portuguese Bend Beach Club, a few trees framed a still glowing sky: 

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