Hi Nathan:
I shot that Huntington Beach Pier a while ago. I have been working on a series of the Orange County Piers as I have time and motivation.
The trick for getting interesting sunsets is to shot them when it is not visually apparent that it is a great sunset. The camera is not limited to what our minds want to see. Every night the sunsets at a different color temperature, so no two nights are the same. My setup is the same for each including time/f-stop; yet the results are always different.
Colen
San Clemente, CA
Seal Beach, CA
I shot this in August and the sun was just too far north. I was not happy so I went back in October (shot below) to an overcast and windy day. Still not want I'm looking for I had hoped to make it back in December, but I have been away for the last 5 weeks. I'll try again this weekend.
Seal Beach, CA