Paintbrush and Sunset Sky Over Bixby Bridge

Posted by Don Smith (California, United States) on 11 March 2008 in Landscape & Rural.

Paintbrush adds a beautiful foreground element to lead the eye through Bixby Creek Canyon and out to the famed Bixby Bridge under an awesome sunset sky. This was the first of two successful sunset locations that my workshop participants and I photographed this past Sunday at the conclusion of my 2008 Spring Big Sur Workshop (I will post the second image tomorrow). Bixby Bridge was completed in 1932 allowing for the final stretch of Highway 1 to connect Carmel to Big Sur. Prior to that, Old Coast Road (from where this image was captured) was used as the main connecting route. Bixby Bridge spans more than 700 feet and rises 260 feet above Bixby Creek (285 above the Pacific Ocean) and is the longest concrete arch bridge in the world. Diminishing perspective appears to make the bridge look as if it is tilting though in reality the horizon line in the distance is straight. If I opted to straighten the bridge, the horizon would tilt. This is often the case in nature when trying to photograph two or more seemingly parallel lines. For more information about my Big Sur workshops, please visit my website http://www.donsmithphotography.com