My wife and I decided to end 2016 by going on a 4-day road trip from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. On our list was to explore the beauty of places like Mill Valley and Big Sur. Of course we took our cameras. Of course.

The drive up to the Bay was easy and uneventful. We stopped for a brief lunch somewhere in central California as we wanted to reach Mt. Tam to capture the trip's inaugural sunset. Unfortunately traffic picked up once we got closer to Oakland and we were worried that we might miss the spectacle.

Despite the traffic, we made it right on time! The drive up to Mt. Tam's Instagram famous East Peak was full with gorgeous turnouts and soul-charging hikes.

On the way back to San Francisco, we stopped at Battery Spencer to attempt a long exposure of the Golden Gate Bridge. I've always wanted to do this but I've never been with a travel buddy that wanted to indulge my weird tendencies. Fortunately, my wife is just as tenacious as me when it comes to getting the shot.

The evening weather from the other side of the bridge was unsurprisingly cold. The wind almost knocked over the tripod a few times and we almost slipped on the wet ground. Thanks to our trip to Iceland last year, we learned to carry flashlights in our kit — they really are handy!

Over the course of the coming days we went back to explore more hidden gems in Mill Valley. The number of people that live in the Bay Area that never journey north baffles me. Id try to be there every other weekend if I lived up there!

Eventually we made our way down to Carmel, Monterey, and Big Sur. We visited Big Sur a few years ago on a prior road trip but we weren't knowledgeable about particular locations for hiking and photography.

Arriving at Big Sur was stunning.

The rain clouds had parted and we were treated to an excellent view from the Bixby Canyon Bridge.

Blue skies. Check.

Intense mist. Check.

Lush landscape in the distance. Check.

The light and dynamic range violently oscillated over the course of an hour. You wouldn't believe it if I posted those photos.

Finally, we made our way down the windy PCH to McWay Falls. Our plan was to capture the last sunset of the year. We knew this was a popular spot and wanted to get there early to camp out.

We struggled to find parking on the shoulder of PCH. It was a bit scary trying to collect our gear, change into hiking shoes, and plan our route while avoiding cars driven by millennials desiring to hug turns at 40mph. Slow down.

People thought we were funny to setup two tripods more than an hour and a half before sunset. While we got some strange looks many people, we did manage to connect with fellow hobbyist photographers. Getting there early also allowed us to experiment with different lenses, apertures, and shutter speeds before the main event.

Worth it.

This is my favorite photo that I've ever taken — probably because I took a good amount of time to compose it! If you made it this far you might be wondering about the gear. I shoot with a Fuji X-Pro 2 and my wife shoots with a Panasonic LX100. All of the photos here were taken with the Fuji and Rokinon 12mm f/2 (manual).

Experiencing this final sunset of 2016 was magical. For a year that was tumultuous and challenging, I felt overjoyed to be starting a new chapter.

I'm grateful that I get to have the opportunity to explore the world with my wife. We hope that 2017 will bring good health and happiness to all.

🐨 — Apologies for any typos and formatting errors. I'm currently on a flight to New York and taping this out on my Nexus 5X. I'll get them resolved when I get to a computer.