Work (real job) took me to Clearwater Pier again for another sunset.  This time I was smart and got there early and was able to get good parking on a Monday night.  The parking is expensive in the City lot, but it's better than having to go to one of the other lots.  If you find yourself there try and get there early, if you wander into a restaurant first or want to scout locations. It was one of those days where it was hard to tell whether or not it would be a good sunset.  The storms offshore were firing like they typically do on a summer day in Florida.  

I wandered around on the beach for a little bit looking for new locations.  I found some tidal pools and set up to use them as a foreground, but as the sun started to set I realized that the clouds above should reflect the sunset nicely and I wanted a better subject than the tidal pools.  TSA had make me pack my allen wrench set and my tripod plate was a little loose, so getting a portrait shot was tough at the exposure I wanted.  I ended up doing a full run down towards the pier to get a different subject for the sunset.  The clouds lit up beautifully.  For my last shot of the night (below) a lot of the color was disappearing overhead but the umbrellas helped bring some extra light to the photo.

Last Light - Clearwater Pier 60

Right before this shot the other side of the pier had some interesting cloud formations that reflected the light in a beautiful pink color. It was one of those sunsets that you knew you were lucky to see and it made skipping dinner and being exhausted the next day worth it.

Sunset at Clearwater Beach - Pier 60