The night and downtown lights of the San Diego skyline come alive.

Although Utah is where my landscape photography flourished, San Diego is where it all began.  It was in that city that I took out loans (…not recommended) to purchase my first SLR as an outlet to survive the grind of pharmacy school.  My first photo was a potted cactus on the windowsill of my room, and I still remember spending hours shooting and processing a now cringe-worthy HDR of streetlights illuminating my apartment complex at night. Over the course of four years I explored and experienced San Diego both as a resident and a photographer.  From watching sunsets while listening to the bellows of sea lions basking in La Jolla Cove, to wandering through the architectural and natural marvels of Balboa Park, to eating a bowl of pho on Convoy Street, to watching the downtown lights flicker whether it be through a walk amidst the skyscrapers or seeing their reflections from Coronado Island – those were some of the best years of my life.

This photo was captured from within an obscure residential neighborhood, and it is a view likely enjoyed either by the occasional curious photographer or the local neighborhood residents. I shot this on a visit to San Diego several years after I had originally left.  There is always a sense of melancholia when I return to a city I know personally.  The buildings have changed, the city seems busier, and my past haunts feel a bit more foreign, but its spirit forever remains the same, and that always brings a smile to my face.