Santa Monica Beach Sunset Photos Collection
When I first started photography, Santa Monica was one of the first and most common locations in Los Angeles that I visited to capture beautiful beach sunset photos.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to photograph amazing golden hour images at different times of the years.
In this blog post, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite beach sunset photos in Santa Monica.
Shutter Speed: 1/1600, Aperture: f/5.6, ISO: 100
This was a photo I captured last year near the end of August. In general, I find that when the season heads toward fall and winter, the sunsets become more interesting because the weather begins to turn a bit more dreary, which makes for a more interesting sunset in my opinion.
I took this photo with the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART Prime lens, which offers a very nice compressed look. I wasn’t aiming for a wide-angle landscape shot of the beach, but I wanted to focus more on how the sun is setting behind the clouds.
Shutter Speed: 1/1250, Aperture: f/4.5, ISO: 160
I took this photo last year in April when there were a bit of clouds passing through the sky that evening. Taken on the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN ART, I wanted to capture a wide enough composition that you could see the shadows of the benches and the bikers directed toward the camera.
I like that there are only a few subjects in the scene so that it doesn’t look too hectic, since I remember that it was a fairly calm evening with not too many people out that day.
Shutter Speed: 1/400, Aperture: f/5.6, ISO: 160
During this same photoshoot session, I managed to capture the sun setting over the mountains, while the remaining sunlight bursts through the small opening of the clouds.
What I like most about the image is the orange light highlighting the edge of the clouds on the right side of the picture. The small wave crashing in the foreground adds a little bit to the drama of the scene. This is another scenario where I think the 85mm lens works perfectly.
Shutter Speed: 1/800, Aperture: f/4.0, ISO: 160
This was actually an image from a photoshoot session I captured a few weeks ago. While this isn’t a photo of the beach itself, it’s still one of my favorite images that I’ve captured while at the beach because of how the clouds cover most of the sky and hang over the buildings and cars.
Other than the lifeguard towers and the Pier, the Santa Monica beach is a fairly barren beach compared to other locations like El Matador Beach with its rock bluffs.
As a result, I find myself taking photos on the opposite side of the beach where I might be able to capture some more engaging subjects.
Shutter Speed: 1/320, Aperture: f/4.0, ISO: 50
