An Evening at Butterfly Beach - Chapter V (the end)

As I made my way back to the warmth of my car, I took one last glimpse at the ocean. The sun only showed itself for about 45 minutes this day... but it was a memorable 45 minutes. I hope you enjoyed the slide show! 

An Evening at Butterfly Beach - Chapter IV

The sun has retreated behind the clouds... but the sky and ocean continue to glow. I loved the silhouette of the palm trees in the background. At this point, I was getting quite cold and was looking forward to joining my surfboards in the warm car. 

An Evening at Butterfly Beach - Chapter III

This was my last glimpse of the sun that evening... it looked as if the sun was shooting rays of light into the ocean as the clouds forced its retreat. As quickly as the sun peaked out, it disappeared again. 

An Evening at Butterfly Beach - Chapter I

I went for a late afternoon surf at Rincon several weeks ago. The waves were small, the water was cold, it was windy, and I was surrounded by fog... definitely not the best conditions. I only stayed out for about an hour (had just wanted to go for a paddle). As I was leaving the parking lot and getting onto the freeway to head north, I noticed a clearing in the fog... It seemed to be getting pushed out to sea. Since I had my camera with me, I decided to head to another beach and take some photos (hoping to see a sunset). I parked my car and started to walk down the beach. As I neared the end of the path, I noticed that the sun had peaked out from behind the clouds....

An Eerie Hong Kong

After eating a big dinner, I decided to take a stroll through the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. It was a rainy, misty, foggy evening... and the city had an "eerie" feeling to it. The bright lights mixed with the fog helped to illuminate the city streets. These are a few photos from that evening.

A Windy Afternoon in Santa Cruz

As I was driving back from San Francisco, I decided to stop in Santa Cruz and go for a quick surf. Had I taken the time to think about the logistics, stopping in Santa Cruz was not ideal (since it's just an hour away from where I was staying)... would have made more sense to pick a half way point. Nonetheless, Santa Cruz has some incredible surf spots... and I thought I would check them out. Pictured in this photo is Natural Bridges State Park. This surf spot is great during a big NW swell... but on this particular day (with a dying SW swell), it was not breaking. Nonetheless, it's a beautiful beach and is a great place to watch the sunset.

If you notice in the background, there was a big fog bank just off the coast. It kind of felt like a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean. I kept expecting the Black Pearl to emerge from the fog. 

Junk Boat Skyline

Walking along the Avenue of the Stars (on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong), you have an incredible view of the Hong Kong Island skyline. On this particular night, there was a "junk boat" wedged along the shoreline. I wasn't sure if it had gotten stuck or if it broken down? Nonetheless, it made for an interesting silhouette as I posed it with the Hong Kong skyline. On this particular night, there was a misty rain and fog was covering the building tops (was quite chilly and I didn't come prepared with a heavy jacket). The fog made the lights in the background glow a lot more than usual. 

Sunrise Descent to ORD

Look closely at the shoreline and you can see smoke coming out of a nuclear power plant. This is the Indiana/Michigan side of the lake.

On an American flight from BOS to ORD. The series of photos here document the sunrise descent to ORD... first, flying over lake Michigan and then going past the city of Chicago. One of the reasons I like taking the 6AM flight to Chicago (other than the fact that it's the least likely to be delayed), is that you can see dramatic sunrises like this (just need to sit on the left hand side of the plane). 

Right now I'm about halfway over Lake Michigan. The center of the lake was covered in fog.

First glimpse of the Chicago skyline as we come out from the fog.

The city had a bit of a haze over it on this particular morning... and since the sun was still at such a low angle, it was casting shadows in the haze (behind the buildings). I thought it was a cool effect.

Foggy in SF

These are a couple photos I took during a recent trip to San Francisco. I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and drove around the Marin Headlands. The fog gave it an "eerie" atmosphere.

Also made a quick time lapse video looking at the Golden Gate Bridge: A "Moody" Golden Gate Bridge

Muir Beach

Video - A "Moody" Golden Gate Bridge

10 minutes at the Golden Gate Bridge...


I went up to the Marin Headlands hoping to take in some amazing views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I made my way up the Cliffs above Kirby Cove... but when I first arrived, I could not see more than 30 feet in front of me. I was a little disappointed and almost left However, I had nothing to do that afternoon and decided to hang out for a bit and see if the fog would burn off. After my coffee was finished, I noticed a brief clearing in the fog... and the bridge started to peak out. It was quite a breathtaking site! The city of San Francisco was also starting to show in the background as well.

A "Moody" Golden Gate Bridge

I went up to the Marin Headlands hoping to take in some amazing views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I made my way up the Cliffs above Kirby Cove... but when I first arrived, I could not see more than 30 feet in front of me (see my previous post). I was a little disappointed and almost left However, I had nothing to do that afternoon and decided to hang out for a bit and see if the fog would burn off. After my coffee was finished, I noticed a brief clearing in the fog (see top picture)... and the bridge started to peak out. It was quite a breathtaking site! The city of San Francisco was also starting to show in the background as well.

Fog day

FOG!

Since the surf was bad today, I decided to drive over to Marin Headlands and take some photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. I only had a half a day left in Northern California and wanted to make the most of it. When I first got to the top of the hill (overlooking the bay), all I could see was fog. I was pretty bummed and almost left... but decided to chill out for 30 minutes (hoping the fog burned off). Here are some pictures I took while I was waiting (as you will see in my next post, the fog burned off and I had an epic view... have to wait until tomorrow for those pictures).

Soho @ Broadway & Prince

Soho @ Broadway & Prince

April 21, 2011

A foggy afternoon in Chicago.
(couldn't think of any other clever thing to say)

April 18, 2011

Another picture from the foggy day in downtown Chicago. You're looking up at the Prudential Building (aka One Prudential Plaza)... from the corner of Michigan Ave and Washington St. The Prudential Building used to be the largest building in Chicago. It's now dwarfed by the surrounding buildings (which are covered in fog).

I like the angle of the light post in this picture... looks rather "artsy".

April 17, 2011

A foggy day in downtown Chicago. I took a little stroll through Millenium Park. In the background is Jay Pritzker Pavillion... it's a bandshell that has various concerts. Really cool architecture.