Photo Of The Day By Craig Bill

Today’s Photo Of The Day is “Surfers Secret” by Craig Bill. Location: La Joya, California.

“My goal was to visit this pier before turning north and heading up to Oregon to photograph hunt,” explains Bill. “I had seen this iconic pier in other photographs and travel promos for several years. I thought Scripps Memorial Pier always made a great photography subject. But I knew that although the pier doesn’t change, the weather and surf conditions might make this out-of-the-way trip a possible photo failure. By the time I finally found it along California’s La Jolla coastline, it wasn’t looking good for great sunset clouds and light. The air was hazy and thick, making for a brassy, unremarkable sky. For the last several nights, however, there was an exciting level of sunset activity—at least on the road to California.

“I ended up having plenty of time to explore and compose while admirably watching the surfers dance around this pier. Everyone seemed to be enjoying and playing in the sun. It just felt so, well, California!

“Then, at the last of the sun’s journey, a fantastic display of color flashed across the sky, soaking the entire area with a warm glow. This was the sunset I had hoped for, and this is the sunset that gave me “Surfer’s Secret”!

See more of Craig Bill’s photography at CraigBill.com.

Photo of the Day is chosen from various OP galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and the OP Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the OP website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them.