The Picturesque Cliffs of the Peninsula

By Tim Truby

On the southwest side of the South Bay, the hills of the Palos Verdes Peninsula stretch from Riviera Village to the cliffs at Point Fermin and Sunken City. It’s an area of immense beauty. The Peninsula is the only place for miles with any significant vertical elevation – which results in seascapes of one picture-perfect cove after another.

Down here, we spend our lives noticing the sky and ocean, June Gloom and sunsets, the changing seasons. We post images that capture these moments of life. When there’s a cool sunset, we head to the cliffs or the beach. Soon after, images of the moment are all over the Beach Cities social media. Some of those photos get put on someone’s wall next to a vase of seashells and a sign that says “Beach This Way >.”

Seascapes

The seascape is a genre in its own right. And it takes many forms. But there are a few spots by the sea, the overlooks, that demand to be turned into art. The curve of the cove, the waves far below, remind us of the magic of beach life. The classic seascape painting or photograph is an archetype for our ancient relationship with the ocean.

If you’re in Carmel the local art will be of the Big Sur cliffs. In the Pacific Northwest, the seascape will include a sea stack or two. But in the South Bay, the archetypal seascape locations can be found off Palos Verdes Blvd. (or Paseo Del Mar). … So, some seascapes.

Bluff Cove

Bluff Cove is a popular surfer spot at the northern end of PV Drive. There’s a trail down to the rocky beach and often you’ll find surfers there waiting for the next swell.

This is a morning shot so the cliffs are still in shadow. And it’s not a classic seascape, it’s documentation of life on the coast.

Blue Hour, Bluff Cove

The overlook on the southern end of the cove offers a more classic view of the South Bay. But the image captured below twists the genre a bit – with a 30 sec. exposure to quiet the ocean. And of course, most folks don’t see Bluff Cove at 6AM.

At this spot, the bushes at the cliff edge here stretch out towards the cove’s rocky point. And it’s so early Redondo’s street lights are still on.

Morning Glory Sunset

Further south, above Golden Cove, the PV Peninsula faces almost due west. I happened to be at an event just at sunset and noticed the morning glories all lit up. Luckily I brought a camera.

I like this photo of the cliffs. I have a print in our dining room and it always draws me in. The painterly touches captured the light on the mustard bushes, the texture of the cliffs, the waves. But the eye always comes back to morning glories you can almost touch…

Abalone Cove

Head south on PV Blvd. below Golden Cove Center and their nice Starbucks, and you’re soon at the turnoff to Point Vicente Lighthouse. … It’s an iconic location but we’re not going in now. Several South Bay photogs have cool studies of the lighthouse, I don’t yet.

The road continues southeast past the lighthouse. There are less homes here, especially east of Terranea. You see groups of bikers working up the dry hills, hikers. The south-facing exposure here is a reminder that the Peninsula gets as little rainfall as a desert. Once we see Wayfarers Chapel it’s time to pull into the lot at Abalone Cove Beach Park.

Superbloom Sunset

I don’t know if Abalone Cove has many abalone these days. But the cove has some intriguing tidal pools especially at the eastern end, where the peninsula reaches out towards Catalina. In that area there are tidal pool steps that hide all kinds of little crustaceans, crabs, sea anemone, starfish. But the cliffs offer a more expansive view.

In early 2019, the peninsula managed to score waay more rainfall than usual -- causing a “superbloom.” It doesn’t happens often at all. And for several months that year, you’d drive the hills and everything was blooming. … But for some reason, I couldn’t see a good shot. Eventually I got the memo from nature and made it down to Abalone Cove.

When I got there, my intuition was to shoot from above. And I discovered this massive patch of ice plants I’d never noticed, the kind that’s red as roses. With the sun just setting, the ocean waves and sunset-lit ice roses, I went into sensory overload.

My framing approach was basically to bury the camera in the ice plants and allow the cliffs to lead the eye in. Catalina in the distance, the sun just out frame to the right. Later on you notice the waves and that guard stand down there by the beach. It’s a spare composition, all geology and physics and light – flowers and mustard plants saying good night to the sun.

Stylistically, my take was to let the colors tell the story.

Superbloom Sunset #2

I couldn’t get enough of those rosy ice plants and a shift in position took in the cove, the cliffs of Terranea … and hills green as Ireland.

The framing is simple, rosy plants looking out towards the setting sun. … With Wayfarers Chapel over at the right. Both these images are in the grand landscape style but instead of being the Tuscan hills or Big Sur, this is the natural beauty of the Beach Cities. Which is cool.

Steps into Darkness, Abalone Cove

Not every landscape image is a grand overlook. Landscape detail photos are equally revealing. And being a tidal area, Abalone has a bunch of spots where a photographer can see the intimate side of a cove.

I call this photograph Steps into Darkness because these tidal pool “steps” are so distinctive. And at Golden Hour, the side light enhanced the layering and gave the steps a golden hue. I got as close to them as I could, given how slick the rocks were. Tidal pool landscapes are about seeing form and geology in the abstract.

Technically, I mostly played with shutter speed. Different time frames can accentuate or diminish wave motion and clarify design. With a 10 sec. exposure, the busyness of the tidal basin disappears entirely. Even the big waves in the upper left are transformed into a mist. That choice made the deep waters and steps obvious and showed the tide flowing in.

Cliffs at Sacred Cove

Just on the other side of the Abalone Cove cliffs is Sacred Cove. In fact if you look closely at the image below, you notice the same fence at the cliff edge. But this was a study featuring the checkerboard rock in the foreground.

Palos Verdes Blvd. continues on it’s way past Sacred Cove and Portuguese Bend, past the golf course until it gets to Western. But the peninsula cliffs continue down along Paseo Del Mar from Royal Palms to Point Fermin. Here the peninsula’s cliffs provide a picture perfect overlook of Cabrillo Beach and the Angel’s Gate breakwater.

By now the PV Peninsula isn’t west-facing. This overlook looks east towards the LA Port and sunrise. And from this spot, the curve of Cabrillo Beach is a perfect lead in to life of the port and the dawn.

This photograph is a reminder of how lucky we are living along the coast. I noticed the sunrise from my home in San Pedro and by 6:30 was heading down to the overlook. I’ve taken lots of pics from this spot morning and evening. And the only technical trick is to have a wide angle lens to capture the entire sweep of the scene.

But with landscapes, the hardest part is to shoot when the light is good. And living here throughout the year gives us a daily insight into the cycle of tides, light and the Peninsula. It’s a rare gift.

Tim Truby Bio

Tim came to the Beach Cities in ’99. He’s written two photography books, Photographing Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Photographing Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks. He’s a First Place Winner at the OC Fair Photography Contest and has shown his images at Crafted and in numerous gallery shows around the South Bay. Contact him at 310-480-7237 or visit https://www.tim-truby-photography.com.

To see Tim’s South Bay seascapes, visit his web site.

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