Evenings at Sunset Beach – Photo Essay

2015/07/27

Evenings at Sunset Beach – Photo Essay

dramatic shadow sunset - Sunset Beach - FL - in Cool Flo 2

Dramatic July sunset at aptly named Sunset Beach – St Pete – FL

Florida’s Gulf Coast faces westward across the vast Gulf of Mexico towards southern Texas. Several hundred miles of fine white sand beaches provide idyllic settings for gorgeous panoramic sunsets the whole year round. In July and August, Florida’s turbulent, quickly-changing weather creates particularly dramatic sunsets along this coast.

Welcome to Sunset Beach, Florida!

Whenever I’m visiting family in St Petersburg, I particularly enjoy cycling out to various beaches as often as possible to witness each evening’s unique natural light displays unfold. I can reach several stunning beaches within 30 minutes from my mom’s house, but I frequently head to aptly-named Sunset Beach.

This inviting wooden walkway welcomes me and entices visitors out to the sparkling white sand and warm sea.

my bike locked at Sunset Beach walkway - St Pete Florida

locked up and ready to go!

I simply lock my bike to the railing and head out to explore nature while awaiting the evening’s main spectacle.

the long sweep of Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach stretches for several miles north and south, merging with the beaches of Treasure Island, St. Pete Beach and Passe Grille Beach. In reality, they’re all one continuous long strip of sand on a narrow island just offshore from the mainland. The long sweeping beach is segregated into different names as the miles tick by.

I like to arrive a good hour before sunset. That allows me enough time to admire the long sweeping beach, walk barefoot in the sand, appreciate the total nature immersion, and explore the environment before Golden Hour really sets in.

Ibis searching for dinner

Taking a long, slow in-depth look at my surroundings always reveals a lot of gorgeous, but generally unnoticed, beauty.

Ibis, gulls, pelicans, cormorants and other shore birds set to fishing out an evening meals. While pelicans and cormorants prefer flying over the sea then plunging down into the water for their catch, Ibis enjoy meandering along the shoreline pecking at the sand for their meals.

golden dune flowers

Sweet golden dune flowers smile up brightly amidst tall, waving grasses and sea oats…

Homes and vacation rental houses back the dunes.

Beaches along this region are backed by low dunes. The dunes are, in turn, backed by lovely wood beach houses and larger vacation rental homes.

Super-macro view of shells on sand

Pretty shells look even prettier when I take time to examine them up close.

Golden leaf glowing on Sunset Beach

This yellow leaf glows vibrantly in the golden evening light about 30 minutes before sunset. The heavy, scattered clouds of summer often only allow 10-15 precious minutes of real Golden Hour light out at Florida’s beach, so this was a lucky catch.

About 15 minutes before the sun sets below the horizon, or disappears behind dense clouds, nature’s color display gets underway. For the next 30-45 minutes a gorgeous, ever-changing show unfolds. Every evening presents a different display of colors, shapes and patterns…

helicopter flies at shadow sunset

As the sky darkens about 30 minutes after the official sunset time, deep twilight sets in. This is Blue Hour. Photographing with long shutter speeds allows more light to be absorbed by the camera, capturing surprisingly late sunset colors that are still lingering in the sky…

As twilight enfolds to darkness, man-made lights of nearby Treasure Island hotels, motels, restaurants and homes begin sparkling in the blackness. A few lingering beach-goers stroll along shore, enjoying being surrounded entirely by nature.

lights of Treasure Island at twilight

A small crowd gathers at a beach-side open-air bar…

Staying on the beach until well after dark can often reveal equally dramatic skies. On this evening, the moon was low enough in the sky to be captured with the tail-end of sunset. A perfect ending to another spectacular evening light show…