Overlooking the decorative lampposts of Huntington Beach's Pier Plaza, the sun goes down, slightly hidden behind Catalina Island, a tourist mecca 25 miles west. To the right is the Huntington Beach Pier, a pleasure pier that's not only the anchor for the beach experience, but also one of the finest vantage points to observe the Pacific Coast setting sunsets.

Huntington Beach is located approximately 35 miles south of Los Angeles and 15 miles east of Disneyland theme park. Many tourists from around the globe come to experience the original Disneyland. It's attractions are quite similar (many are the same) as other Disney parks, but the weather in Southern California is some of the best. It makes for a fantastic trip. While visiting, guests who want to spend a day (and even an overnight stay) at the beach resorts, will choose Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Long Beach in the close vicinity to the location of the picture shown above.

For day trips or overnight visits to Catalina Island, you'll need to purchase tickets and depart from Long Beach, Newport Beach, San Pedro or Dana Point.

Also available in Long Beach is a much longer trip than the 1 hour boat ride to Catalina Island. From Long Beach's newest cruise port next to Queen Mary ship, you can hop aboard a Carnival Cruise for Baja Mexico. Cruises range from approx. 3 to 7 days from this port. Nearby San Pedro's Port of Los Angeles offer a number of cruises that even travel to Australia, believe it or not!

Picture tip: For excellent evening sunset photos, be sure to bracket. What's that' You must set your camera to "Manual" in order to obtain more control, including bracketing. If you don't know how to escape "P" for programmable, you may need to read your manual. Bracket is a series of adjustments in which you first take the photo a little lighter, then mid-range in accordance with what the camera's light meter tells you is perfect, and finally take your third picture darker. When you get back home and download it, you can see a difference in the range of colors captured through this method.  Some cameras have a bracket function you can set and push one button for bracketing to take effect.