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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Three: Dimensions of grandeur – larger than life travel imagery > Golden God’s Rays, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010
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07-SEP-2010

Golden God’s Rays, Mission Beach, San Diego, California, 2010

The clouds are stacked in layers here, and the sun is trying to break through them all at once. The imager reveals a sky filled with banks of clouds, their edges touched with gold. A pyramid of rays filter through them, known as "God’s Rays." The sea becomes a textured gilded carpet, a scene of grandeur that offers a home to a sole surfer who waits to ride a wave of liquid gold.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1
1/800s f/5.6 at 120.0mm iso100 full exif

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Phil Douglis29-Oct-2010 22:10
Thanks, Alina, for coming back to this one -- that is the feeling I wanted to offer here. It is the figure of the surfer that excites the imagination and draws us in to the beauty of the scene itself. Thanks for the compliment -- I treasure it because it comes from a wonderful artist.
Alina29-Oct-2010 13:58
The composition is perfect. I have a feeling that I’m in the ocean with this surfer :) This picture is a beautiful piece of art Phil.
Phil Douglis28-Oct-2010 20:21
Thanks, Alina, for your appraisal of this image. I am glad you see how my positioning of the horizon fills three quarters of the image with the golden sea, and how the placement of the surfer gives him much to admire here. A practical consideration is involved in this composition as well. If I had moved the horizon line down any further in the frame, I would have added more clouds and sky, but I would have also had to include the blazing unobstructed sun along with it, which would have destroyed the image.
Alina28-Oct-2010 03:30
Beautiful composition, gorgeous sky and surfer just in right place to admire the scene.
Phil Douglis24-Oct-2010 19:50
As a Californian, you have the Pacific and its sunsets at your front door year round. You are very fortunate, Jenene, to have this "true gold" always on hand, even if you are not a sunbather or a surfer.
JSWaters24-Oct-2010 19:08
Here is the true gold of California. The surfer enjoys the element given freely to all who stop long enough to take it in.
Jenene
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