Los Angeles, California’s Days Get Shorter As the Sunset Times Trend Earlier

Posted on July 8, 2012 by admin

After about five weeks of June gloom, summer appears to be finally be upon us in Los Angeles. Temperatures in the beach cities hit the low-80s this weekend, and forecasts predict a week of sun and hot weather.

There has been a shift, too, in the time of the sunset. While we’ve been losing about a minute of daylight every two sunrises for the last few weeks, the sunset time in Los Angeles has held steady at 8:07 PM for weeks. Sadly for those of us with full-time jobs, it’s about to arrival time is about to speed up dramatically.

July 23 is set to be the last date that 8:00 PM PST will see daylight in Los Angeles, and by the end of the month the sunset will be finished and Green Flash over with by 7:54 PM.

So Los Angelans, be sure to take advantage of sparse late afternoon traffic heading towards Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, and Malibu over the next couple weeks and grab your camera and get to the beach to catch the sunset.

If you go, join and share your pictures on Gnarly Sunset. We’ve got over 1000 photographers from over 150 countries, but there’s still plenty of places from which we need more great sunset photos. Eight of our available works of art are tagged as Los Angeles sunsets, and they range from Hollywood to Marina del Rey and Playa del Rey.

Check them out, and if you think you can do better than join us today and upload your gnarliest photographs. If they’re really good, we may even be able to help you sell them and make some money. Or you can even have you own shots printed as canvases or triptych canvases for your wall so you can enjoy sunsets year round, even when they’re already over before you leave work.

The Best Sunset Photographer in the World?

Posted on July 1, 2012 by admin

When people land on Gnarly Sunset, a question they’re often faced is where to begin. From thousands of photographs on display, how can one choose which to buy?

Our most popular photographer goes by the name of JaqStone, and anyone who has spent much time on our site is surely familiar with her dramatic Arizona desert sunsets. She has fast developed a reputation as one of the premier sunset photographers on the planet, and we are proud to feature 182 photos and counting from the talented photographer.

JaqStone has generously agreed to do a question and answer with us and tell you more about who she is, where she’s from, and what inspires her. Learn about her now, then be sure to view her entire photo gallery.

GS: What is your name?

Jacqueline Stone, but I’m known all over the internet as JaqStone.

GS: Where do you live?

I’m blessed to live in a wide valley of the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona with mountains in all directions and a cotton farm across the street.

GS: How did you first get interested in photography?

My father was a freelance landscape photographer but I didn’t discover my own love for the art until 2010 when I witnessed the most amazing sunset I’d ever seen. I had to capture it to share the beauty with others.

GS: Why did you decide to join Gnarly Sunset?

Joining Gnarly Sunset was an easy decision. Sunsets are not only my favorite shots but also what I shoot the most. Having a site designed just for people who love sunsets as much as I do is a gift.

GS: Did you know you were the 2nd photographer to join Gnarly Sunset? It’s pretty crazy that you’ve gone on to become the site’s largest contributor!

I did not know when I joined that the site was so new I was the second member, but I like getting in on the ground floor of a new project and being part of it growing.

GS: Are you surprised to see that it’s grown to over 1000 members from over 150 countries in just 8 months?

Gnarly’s rapid growth does not surprise me at all. Photographers love to share the beauty they see and there’s a platform here that not only makes sharing easy, but also profitable.

GS: What do you like to shoot besides sunsets?

I enjoy decay and industrial photography, florals, trees, and shots that include water.

GS: Why do you enjoy shooting sunsets?

Shooting sunsets is for me about so much more than photography. When I’m out in the desert watching the beauty unfold above me it opens my heart and expands my whole being. I feel connected to all of nature, totally free, and full of joy and wonder. That’s what I want to share through my photos.

GS: Do you shoot sunrises or just sunsets?

I do have a few sunrise shots but our evening skies are colorful much more often than in the morning.

GS: Are your shots real and unedited? They are so unbelievable that it’s hard to imagine they are not touched up…

My shots are real and they go through post-processing, just like any other professional photographer. The camera, especially older ones like mine, does not see the same way we see so in order to share the sunset I experienced some adjustments are made after the shot. Sometimes I do stronger adjustments to convey more of the mood of a sunset. For me, it’s about creating an inspiring image that touches the heart and inspires the mind of the viewer.

GS: What is it about that the desert that makes it so suitable for sunsets?

The Sonoran Desert is a fabulous place for sunsets because of the wide open expanse, the mountains on the horizon, … and the dirt! We get strong winds that often kick up a lot of red dust. It hangs in the air or collects in the clouds and when the sun sets the dust particles catch the light and create spectacular colors.

GS: What photograph on the site are you most proud of?

My favorite sunset shot is called Paradise Lake and Mountain Sunset. It’s not the most dramatic but it is profoundly peaceful and softly beautiful.

GS: What are your goals as a photographer in the future?

I’m always working on improving my skills as a photographer. I’d like to work more with people to create portraits that express the soul of the person.

GS: Many people who visit the site consider you to be the best sunset photographer on the internet today. What do you think when you hear people say that?

It humbles me to hear people praise my photography, and it encourages me to keep growing, keep learning, and keep sharing.

GS: The scenery of your photos is just breathtaking. Do you consider the deserts of Arizona to be the best place to take pictures of sunsets?

I know the world is full of beautiful places and wonderful sunsets can happen anywhere, but Arizona is blessed with ideal conditions for gorgeous sunsets about 200 days a year.

GS: What are a couple suggestions you have for Gnarly Sunset as the site grows?

Like anything that you want to last, steady growth with high quality is the key. Keep the best work on the main page so visitors will be inspired to look around and photographers will want to be a part of what you’re creating.

GS: Do you have any advice for the other members of the site?

When you start uploading to the site ask yourself if you would buy the photo you’re uploading. If you wouldn’t buy it, don’t put it up. Visitors to the site will not wade through all of your shots to find a good one. You have about 3 seconds to give them a reason to keep looking at your work. As soon as you upload new photos submit each one to bookmarking sites and let your followers on social networks know what you’ve added. Rather than trying to put all your photos up at once, add a few every day. This will keep your account on Gnarly showing up in search engines because it is fresh and active.

Click the Picture Below to Browse all of JaqStone’s Pictures! 15% of Each Sale Will Go to JaqStone. Support Local Photographers Around the World and Only Buy Unique Art!

Can YOU Tell if This is a Picture or Painting?

Posted on April 18, 2012 by admin

When a great artist finishes a painting, it is common to express the sentiment that their work looks almost like a photograph.

Gnarly Sunset’s talented German photographer Victoria Wlaka “viwehei” accomplished the opposite with her sunset picture of Heidelberg, Germany’s Towers of Alte Brücke. Viwehei captured the towers in stunning fashion, creating a jawdropping silhouette effect against the blue and purple sky.

The photograph is available as wall art in canvas and print form in sizes ranging from 8×10 to 36×48. Gnarly Sunset also recently began offering triptych sunset prints. This particular piece is available from 20×36 (in three separate pieces) all the way up to 40×60. Prices on our art starts at just $19, and a percentage of each sale goes to support local artists in over 100 countries… in this case, viwehei.

Be sure to check out the thousands of snapshots shared by everyone at Gnarly Sunset. We are trying to build the largest and best database of sunrise and sunset pictures online.

Gnarly Sunset – The First 6 Months (and a Sneak Peek at What’s Ahead)

Posted on January 5, 2012 by admin

Sunset at Sands Beach in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, California

If you’ve been here before, you’re used to not knowing what to expect the next time you come back. If you’re visiting the site for the first time, and you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, you’re about to become even more confused. The theme of the first six months has been progress, and it’s going co continue.

Gnarly Sunset was initially conceived as a resource for sunrise and sunset pictures from all around the world, along with with sun facts, sunrise times and sunset times, and printed canvases and wall art made from the pictures and photos.

It has gone great and exceeded our expectations. In just six months, we have well over 1,000 members from over 100 countries. We also have over 1,000 photos contributed by hundreds of different photographers. Each photo is available in a wide range of sizes and styles (canvas, triptych canvases, and prints).

Over 28,000 people have visited the site and viewed over 107,000 pages. The average visitor stayed for 2 minutes and 43 seconds and viewed 2.9 pages. And our site viewers came from 169 different countries, with 75% coming from the United States!

It’s been a pretty momentous beginning, but we have high hopes for what’s to come. We plan to aggressively roll out more data to become an even more thorough provider of information about the Earth, Outer Space, and the Universe.

We plan to recruit thousands more talented photographers around the world and hope to someday have the largest database of sunset photographs on the internet.

We will be rolling out more product types to offer more ways for photographers to monetize their pictures.

And we’ll be blowing out our blogging coverage of everything happening and are excited to bring you articles about talented member photographers, highlight some of the best sunset photos on the planet (right on this site), and hopefully be a one stop shop for all the facts about the world around us you could ask for.

Thank you for your interest and be sure to drop us a line at contact@gnarlysunset.com.

Six months never went by so fast, but we think we’ll be finding ourselves saying that again come October.