Week One: Santa Barbara Sunset

I’m not usually sentimental over sunsets but I took this photo a while back when I was visiting my hometown of Santa Barbara and to this day it remains one of my favorite pictures. Every time I go home, I always joke with my sisters that our town looks like it belongs in a painting and doesn’t feel real because it has a surreal kind of beauty about it. This particular sunset just enhanced that surrealness and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. I love the way the sunlight bounces off of the wisps and clouds to create an almost brushstroke-like effect that paints the yellow, light orange, and pinks against the blue sky. The vibrancy of the colors and the way the pink hues seem to blend to make the sky seem almost pale purple rather than blue towards the top of the picture were really pretty and reminded me of a painting. I also love the way the potency of the light and colors create a stark silhouette of the palm trees and the buildings, leaving them in shadow but still emphasizing the characteristic shape. While the focus of the image is almost entirely on the sky and sunset, I personally always associate palm trees with home and seeing them silhouetted against the sun with those colors behind them just screams Santa Barbara and makes me nostalgic for home each time I look at this picture.