It was 90 f degrees, humid af, raining with thunder and lightning. This is Southern California with a rare taste of tropical weather. Almost foreshadowing what was to come. This was just two months before a series of atmospheric rivers began moving through the area.

I was fortunate enough to capture this sunset in between two thunderstorms. I originally set out to capture lightning strikes, which are extremely rare here and create a YouTube video about it ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v09rh-SDmIA ). It was literally pouring just moments before I took off. Then suddenly the clouds just ripped apart and revealed an incredible sunset with one of the clearest views I have ever seen in this area. I saw leading lines and tried to adjust my composition to line it up with the setting sun. I feel fortunate to have captured this one.

I captured this with the DJI Mavic 3 Cine. I originally captured this as a 180 degree panorama and then cropped it to my liking. Exit data ISO 100, 12.29 mm, f/2.8, 1/15th sec.

Edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic (desktop). I used global edits to set white balance and make some simple edits... I used global edits at a minimum and favored more of a surgical approach using, select sky, masking, and radial and linear gradients. I did not adjust any of the hue sliders, however I did select sky and bring out the details of the clouds while manipulating the blues to look more teal and offer a balance to the oranges of the hillside. I warmed up the left side and cooled the right using white balance adjustments on radial gradients. I did this to add contrast and a bit of drama and to highlight at least part of the reason they call it "The Golden State."