The sun bursts out beneath a bank of clouds in this sunset, seen from Sweeney Ridge in San Bruno, California. It casts a path of shimmering orange on the ocean and lights up the air between two hills.

On a stormy winter day in Pacifica, shafts of light burst through the blackened sky to warm the sands of Pedro Point beach.

It was on a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean that this majestic flock of fluffy clouds was spotted grazing across the clear turquoise waters hugging the shallow sandbanks of a nearby island. It seemed like I was witnessing a great migration from the high altitudes of my plane window seat.

I captured this evocative picture one day driving through a torrential downpour in San Bruno, California - towards Pacifica. I was, of course, in the passenger seat at the time (and not steering the car from it, either, for that matter). There's just something intensely moody about the colors and the motion blur effect in the picture that evokes those braving-the-storm feelings. It feels stark and looks blistering cold.